Gone are those days when you thought this city is a pensioner’s paradise. Or for that matter even a Garden City. With the winds of change come necessities for better connectivity, transportation of essentials day in and out to the city and a whole bunch of people from all over the country entering this city daily on one pretext or the other. Today all you have are zipping cars, slugging trucks and buses, whizzing cyclists on the wrong sides of lanes, and struggling two wheelers managing to find their space in this ocean. I am so ashamed to see that I myself have been driving my vehicle faster than what I did say 5 years back. I am not sure why the urge to do so, but I do so. And thats bad. Perhaps its the state of mind after or before office. Perhaps its just plain attitude. Whatever it is, it does sound like an irreversible change this city’s state has made on me.

What is this all pointing to? Well one for sure is IMPOLITENESS. Today we are always of the notion that ONLY the other guy is WRONG. Have you ever thought about whether you can be wrong as well? No, right? Well I do so. And I am happy that I do so. It gives me a chance to correct myself and be more calmer on the roads. I give way for pedestrians even now. I give way for vehicles who are in a tearing hurry. I apologize if I did a manouvre which might have been wrong on that road at that instant; to whoever suffered because of me. I have borne a few scratches on my car, just to let a weary cyclist go home in haste. Are others behaving the same way towards me? The one word answer is – NO. And it hurts that people have become insensitive. To everything around them. I mean what is the hurry in life? Where do we all want to go? Die soon? Whats gone wrong with us that we dont allow children and elders cross the road while we wait in peace for that to finish?

The animal instinct in us is more than the human one. Do you know what happens if you just touch some two wheeler or someone who is walking by, at 80-100 kmph in your car? Well the other person can easily die. A death he never wanted, never imagined will come to him – all because of our urgency. Add to that our rudeness and callousness, and what are we giving the people we hit and run? – Only salt on their wounds.

Sorry for becoming a bit sober. But the life I had was so good and I feel bad it cannot be the same for others being born today. Are gated residential enclaves the solution to this? Well heck, no! Change in our attitude is. The our includes the government too. The business leaders too, the LEAD INDIA’s too.

Technorati Tags: Life in Bengaluru, Bengaluru, Bangalore, Blog, City, Traffic, Lifestyle, Rudeness, Impoliteness, Vehicles, Accidents, Garden city, Paradise, Cars, Two wheelers, Cyclists, Cycles, Death, Lead india, Government

Gone are those days when you thought this city is a pensioner’s paradise. Or for that matter even a Garden City. With the winds of change come necessities for better connectivity, transportation of essentials day in and out to the city and a whole bunch of people from all over the country entering this city daily on one pretext or the other. Today all you have are zipping cars, slugging trucks and buses, whizzing cyclists on the wrong sides of lanes, and struggling two wheelers managing to find their space in this ocean. I am so ashamed to see that I myself have been driving my vehicle faster than what I did say 5 years back. I am not sure why the urge to do so, but I do so. And thats bad. Perhaps its the state of mind after or before office. Perhaps its just plain attitude. Whatever it is, it does sound like an irreversible change this city’s state has made on me.

What is this all pointing to? Well one for sure is IMPOLITENESS. Today we are always of the notion that ONLY the other guy is WRONG. Have you ever thought about whether you can be wrong as well? No, right? Well I do so. And I am happy that I do so. It gives me a chance to correct myself and be more calmer on the roads. I give way for pedestrians even now. I give way for vehicles who are in a tearing hurry. I apologize if I did a manouvre which might have been wrong on that road at that instant; to whoever suffered because of me. I have borne a few scratches on my car, just to let a weary cyclist go home in haste. Are others behaving the same way towards me? The one word answer is – NO. And it hurts that people have become insensitive. To everything around them. I mean what is the hurry in life? Where do we all want to go? Die soon? Whats gone wrong with us that we dont allow children and elders cross the road while we wait in peace for that to finish?

The animal instinct in us is more than the human one. Do you know what happens if you just touch some two wheeler or someone who is walking by, at 80-100 kmph in your car? Well the other person can easily die. A death he never wanted, never imagined will come to him – all because of our urgency. Add to that our rudeness and callousness, and what are we giving the people we hit and run? – Only salt on their wounds.

Sorry for becoming a bit sober. But the life I had was so good and I feel bad it cannot be the same for others being born today. Are gated residential enclaves the solution to this? Well heck, no! Change in our attitude is. The our includes the government too. The business leaders too, the LEAD INDIA’s too.

Technorati Tags: Life in Bengaluru, Bengaluru, Bangalore, Blog, City, Traffic, Lifestyle, Rudeness, Impoliteness, Vehicles, Accidents, Garden city, Paradise, Cars, Two wheelers, Cyclists, Cycles, Death, Lead india, Government

You must be wondering why my articles are dwindling on this site. Well I ll let you in on a secret. I ve been into many things of late. Lots of useful work at office, 30 minutes of Yoga in the morning and 45 minutes of Yoga in the evening, 15-30 minutes of acupressure during the day, and the usual phone breaks, lunch breaks and the two hour commute into and out of office. Enough to keep myself occupied. But that did not prevent me from enjoying the interesting things that Bengaluru provides. A couple of days back, I had lot of time to kill at a signal light near Sony World, Koramangala. I was always interested half heartedly in the knicknacks that the beggars sold at this signal. Well they aren’t exactly beggars, perhaps street urchins or jobless people would be a better word to use.

The person for the day was trying to entice me to buy an LED desk light. It looked powerful and intuitive too. The top portion had about 8 LEDs of white colour and the power source was from a mouse shaped based (in fact its a mouse lets say!) holding 3 AAA batteries. In between these two was a flexible cord which could be bent in any way desired.

“Esthu?”, i asked (how much).

“120”, came the reply.

Agreed I haven’t really seen something like this for Rs.120 anywhere around Koramangala. But still for a moment I felt its too high.

I looked a bit disinterested when the girl asked me “Kitna dega saab?” (how much will you give sir)

I said “50”.

“Less 20 bucks and give me 100”, she said

I stuck to my stand : “50”

She nodded her head and walked away. For a moment I believed that this light wont be mine. It is useful here to say I had bought the same light at the same junction from another person earlier in the week for the same amount that I quoted. But he was desperately hungry and it was almost the end of the day, past 9pm. So he had no choice but to take the fifty bucks. On the other hand this girl was neither hungry, nor was it the end of the day with scores of potential customers yet to come.

I felt doomed with this item. I let her go. The signal light was still red. She went around and I observed out of my rear view mirror that no one wanted that light except me.

After a while I got a knock on my left window. Rolled it down and she said “70”. I took out a fifty buck currency note and held it in front of her. “If you want to give it, give it, else walk away” I said.

She said 60 bucks atleast. I just gave her the fifty, and took the light. Period. I won the battle for this second light. Although at the bottom of the heart I still know maybe that the light itself costs say 25-30 bucks only. As a product it can consume quite a lot of batteries in a short time, but then the light it gives can put any other branded emergency light to shame.

So my street shopping continues …..

Technorati Tags: Life in Bengaluru, Streets, Sony world, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Bangalore, Blog, Shopping, Led light, Led, Mouse, Stand, Cord, White, Oasis, Traffic, Signal, Red, Emergency light, Urchins, Beggars

I headed out to my office on a clear summer’s day to get a whiff of fresh air and what I got is this

The temperature pattern in Bengaluru is becoming more and more unpredictable as each day dawns. Its a storehouse of surprises each day. The fog just lasted for a bit of inner ring road and then it was the usual clear day again ahead. How BIZZAIRE!

Technorati Tags: Automobiles, Winter, Fog, Bengaluru, Blog, Bangalore, Temperature, Cool, Cold, Chill, Sunny, Heat, Sweat, Hot, Sultry, Weather, City

I had written earlier about OASIS opening up shop next to my home about 300 metres away. The fun did not stop there! Koramangala seems to be a place of plenty and more and more to come in future too. It has become a hub of very interesting shops and things to do. At this rate it will be a mini Bengaluru in itself. I have Pizza Hut right next to my home. So if I ve gobbled up a huge pizza and am feeling heavy, I can go over to the new NEXT showroom opposite Pizza hut to do some window shopping of all electricals and electronics!

I wonder what more is in the offing for this locality. However I still have fond memories of Everest School, a school run for the little children, the students among which my own cousin was one of them. It was exactly on the same spot where NEXT now stands that once upon a time there was a little school with little kids being taught interesting things. Many a sports day, a flag hoist was conducted at this very place which has now given way to this swanky building selling home appliances. Of course this was exactly 15 years before when Koramangala was close to nothing in terms of economic progress. I guess the owner of this place too has caught a whiff of the real estate smell. Of course one cant imagine a school being run in a building as small as this anymore! Its now the time of International schools, since the national ones have no meat left in themThis building also houses MAX NEW YORK LIFE, an insurance provider of all sorts. While the guy at the bottom ensures you waste your money, the guy on top ensures you save money to waste

So thats it for now, yet another showroom in Koramangala to waste time on!

Technorati Tags: Earn the dough, Technology, Koramangala, NEXT, Home appliances, Bengaluru, Bangalore, Blog, Everest School, Max new york life

Infrastructure upgrades are something any Bangalorean will appreciate at all times. And the BBMP had started off one such project of installing MAGIC BOXES all over the place on Bellary road leading to the new Devanhalli International Airport. The earnest and direction was finally clear and a Malaysian company provided the technology to create single lane underpasses within 72 hours. This time was only for casting the boxes and making them ready where as the other road activities were supposed to be done in parallel. The excited BBMP started digging up Sankey Road in full swing only to break a huge water pipe laid by their own cousins – the BWSSB – making it a costly mistake since it cut off water supply to North Bangalore for days together! Some mistakes can be corrected but they will take their own time due to the mess and complexity created years back when such plans were not in place.

The BBMP and BWSSB started finger pointing at each other but this time they had to only save their skins with the project progressing. No excuses would be tolerated at the cost of progress was the clear message. So the commissioner took this up personally, camped at the site all night to rectify the problem in the right earnest. Finally the BWSSB and BBMP spat was over and they worked together to still try and realize the goal even after 72 hours. People almost started condemning these authorities for yet another broken promise. But the BBMP was ready to take all brickbats at the cost of progress. In fact the airport completion came as a severe blow to infrastructure planners who were otherwise lethargic. Now they had to pull up their socks and complete their side of the work. To add to their misery neither a train system could be ready nor were there any other alternative roads that led to the airport. This put severe pressure on BBMP to make Bellary road traffic free. And there were no excuses to be taken this time. The public were ready to fly at a rage to ridicule the authorities if they did not work. The LEAD INDIA effect started showing in their thoughts and faces.

(All images courtesy the times of india, dated 21- FEB – 2008)

So finally today the MAGIC BOX was finally opened up to the public much to their relief. Though slighty complicated, on using the road once one can understand how to go about this concept of infrastructure. The only thing one cant do now is to take a right turn on sankey road from mekhri circle. Instead one will have to upto BDA junction (windsor manor bridge) and take a U-Turn on a similar magic box which would be installed there to come back to cauvery theatre and take a left towards Sankey Road. Vehicles from Sankey road can go underneath the box and take a right towards MG Road or go over the box and take left to merge with traffic towards Bellary road. So that leaves the people coming from windsor manor bridge who would need to go left at Cauvery junction, take U-turn a little ahead and take left again to go to Bellary road.

One month was pretty quick to solve the problem of signal woes with the MAGIC BOX. hopefully in two more months, without breaking more pipes, the BDA junction, Sanjaynagar junction, and Sahakarnagar junction would have MAGIC BOXES. I only hope Mr.Commissioner then thinks of doing the same MAGIC at the following junctions please!

1. Old Madras Beninganahalli Bridge junction
2. KR puram – Banaswadi flyover junction
3. KR puram railway station
4. HP junction on ITPB road
5. Garudacharpalya junction on ITPB road
6. Bhoruka park junction on ITPB road
7. Hoodi Circle
8. Bellandur junction on outer ring road
9. Intel junction on ORR
10. HRBR – Babusapalya junction on ORR
11. Hennur road junction on ORR
12. Thanisandra junction on ORR
13. Nagawara junction on ORR
14. Kasturinagar – ORR junction

Good job BBMP and keep giving us more such MAGIC tricks! 🙂

Technorati Tags: Earn the dough, Technology, Magic box, Old madras road, Kr puram, Bangalore, Bbmp, Bwssb, Water pipe break, North bangalore, Bial, Airport, Devanahalli, HP, ITPB, Garudacharpalya, Hoodi, Intel, Bellandur, HRBR, Hennur, Thanisandra, Nagawara, Kasturinagar, Sankey road, BDA junction, MG road, Bengaluru, Blog, Cauvery theatre, Lead india, Rk misra