ExpertDabbler

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/oct/31slid9.htm

Too bad I don’t find Air Deccan, Go Air, IndiGo here.

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The safest way to double your money is to fold it into two and keep it in your pocket.
- Unknown

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Apparently Forbes does not want to be left behind on the India growth story, so they have compiled a list of ten best commutes in the world.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/28/commute-cities-world-forbeslife-cx_mw_1028realestate_slide_9.html?thisSpeed=15000 (via Shankar)

I don’t think the guy who wrote this, or the guy who provided the inputs had ever been to Chennai.
Chennai’s population @ 5 million? MTRS? IT highway! Grrr…. Ennale Mudila!!

I always knew that Triplicane is the area of bachelors mansions. But I did not realize the historical significance of this place till last Saturday. Still, there is a lot to know about this area.

For starters, Subramania Bharathy’s ninavu illam is situated close to Parthasarathy temple. I was busy photographing that house, when a nearby Maama commented,’Avar irukara kaalathile maasam Rs.3 vaadagai kudukka mudiyaama kashtapattaar, innaiku oorey avarai kondaadaraa.. enna ulagamada..’ I could not say anything to this.

Another place that caught my attention was a very old house in dilapidated condition.
As I was trying to take a picture, an elderly person (a passerby called him Nari for whatever reason), got friendly with me and started explaining about the house. His family has lived in that house for four generations. The place apparently belongs to a Trust in UP. The entire area houses about 55 families. The arrangement was that the rental proceeds should go to the said Trust, he said.

Now, it looks like they are on the verge of demolishing the house. Nari said he vacated that place and is living close by. He had some misgivings about the way the property was managed and that the rental proceeds are going to the Trust after ‘standard deductions’ by vested interests.

I also found a very intriguing board in front of a house. This is the first time I am seeing a fan club for short stories.

Overall, it was a very interesting episode for me personally. Coming to think of it, this was just in the immediate vicinity of the temple. I guess a lot can be uncovered if only we roam the streets of Triplicane long enough. This is my second visit to Triplcane in about a month. And it’s pertinent to note that I did not notice all these during my first trip. Hmm..Looks like there are a few places to notice apart from Ratna Café in Triplicane

Everybody loves a good road in India, except those who get killed, and their families perhaps. It may sound odd if I say good roads are not necessarily good for India, at least with the existing habits of road users. But that’s the truth.

In India, I would dare say there is a direct relationship between the quality of the roads and the number of fatal accidents. Better roads equates to more fatal accidents. For e.g If one compares the Nilgiris Ghat highway and ECR road, the number of fatal accidents will be infinitely higher in the latter. Reason - speed kills. While one may be constrained to drive at 60kmph in Nilgiris because of the terrain, a well laid road like the ECR removes all such constraints. There is no concept of speed limit here. There are people who consistently make to Pondy in about 80 minutes from Thiruvanmiyur, a distance of about 130 kms – the road is not multi-lane FYI.

While there is nothing new in all these things, what makes me really worried is that India at last is getting into the habit of building multi-lane highways across the country.
Which means it is much more dangerous to violate traffic rules in future than it has ever been in the past. One can violate traffic rules in South Avani Moola Street in Madurai and yet nothing would happen. But doing the same in OMR would mean somebody will get killed – it can be the violator or the victim or both.

So what is the way out?

It is common knowledge that people in urban India have substantial western influence – from food, to clothes, to movies to English speaking ability. Given this urge, it is surprising that we are all Indians when it comes to following traffic rules - one of the few traits where we can ape the west for good. I think one of the main reasons behind our inability to ape the west in adhering to traffic rules is that most of the educated junta have no clue about how traffic systems work and drivers drive in the developed countries. They can see what suit a white man wears, they understand the language he speaks, but they cannot see how the traffic system works there. At least I had no clue till I made my first and only trip abroad. This is one of those things which one has to see it to understand it.

Why not leverage this ‘ape the west’ mentality here with the help of Videos? I think we, the educated masses are not getting enough opportunities to feel ashamed about our driving habits.

We should be shown smartly made videos which shows how the traffic works in developed countries vis-à-vis India? These can be played in strategic locations like Petrol bunks, bus terminus etc. I think this will definitely arouse some curiosity if it the message is kept subtle.

I would say there is a reasonable chance that the English speaking Indians would subconsciously try to ape the west on this as well. Even otherwise, Heck, what’s wrong in trying this? We have nothing to lose by trying it. As it is, we are losing people everyday in our roads. How worse can it get?

I agree that there are considerable infrastructure constraints in India. The population here is unbelievable, there is zilch traffic enforcement. But honestly I think the fundamental issue is the drivers and the mind set more than anything else.

I do not think having good roads alone will bring down traffic related deaths. History suggests that with our road habits, it is likely to go up. There is no weekend without accidents in ECR. In the famous IT corridor, I find stray cows sitting right next to the center median, gravel distributed all over the roads at night – riding two-wheelers require special skills here, policemen keep road dividers in the most ridiculous of spots, vehicles are parked for one- third of the road, MTC trailer buses swerve from left lane to right with relish. Despite all this, cars and buses ply at about 80-90 kmph by default. In short we have a crude but effective method to bring down the population.

The above outlined solution may or may not work. But I am certain we need to find a solution on war footing. And anything which makes sense and does not cost a bomb should be tried out. Because anything which causes us to lose a few lives a day is no less than a war – be it roads or terrorism.

Have you ever wondered how the Chennai cab drivers drive the way they do? Here I do not mean the auto drivers. Let’s talk only about the call taxis and the ones who pick and drop IT/ITES junta in Chennai. That’s not driving. Maybe calling it ‘madness behind wheels’ would be more appropriate.

There is an interesting backdrop to this. How long do you sleep on an average? I manage between six to eight hours. Six makes me feel groggy and eight is a luxury. Seven is more realistic. Many cab drivers on the other hand run virtually 24/7 managing to sleep only during gaps in the trips. Reason? Money baby.

The IT companies as far as I know usually get into an agreement with some taxi agency.
The taxi agencies are mere coordinators. The guy who drives for a shift is getting paid by the kilometers he drives, not for the hours he is on duty. This is more like a freelancing job. During my trips from Tambaram to my home during nights, I have seen taxi drivers asking if they can take the GST route. The reason is simple – that is the longest route, which means more money for him from the company. He drives, submits the bills based on the kilometers driven, leaves for the day. He comes back the next day or night as the case may be.

I am not sure if there is an efficient way to check he does not drive elsewhere during off-shift hours. Going by the way they are on the roads, I strongly suspect that is the case.

Much has been said and written about DUI (driving under influence) but not many know that driving without adequate sleep is equally dangerous. I would even say more because, there is no way to find out if the guy has had enough sleep unless he kills someone. It’s even more alarming that nobody even talks about this.

Try working without adequate sleep for two days in a row, your colleagues will realize how irritable and anti-social you have become. Whenever I have slept less, I develop a disrespect and disdain for everybody.

No wonder these call taxis and cab drivers are menacing on the roads.

People are elated about Tata’s Nano. Taking nothing away from Tatas, I would’ve been happier had they invented something which would sense the eye and detect if the person has slept enough. The ignition should work only if the person behind the wheels has slept enough. Why Tatas? They make the Indicabs, don’t they?

There are much safer methods to reduce population in the city. Let’s not take cab drivers help for this purpose. I wish somebody takes this issue to the next level and does a proper study.

Watched 21 - loved it.
Those who are looking for a good veg. restaurant can also check out ‘Rasam’ a Sri Krishna Sweets venture in Purasawakkam.
Use just dial for more info

But the highlight of yesterday’s outing was the rain and my struggles to come home late night. Anna Salai is the only motorable road in Chennai on a rainy day. We are heading for adventurous times.

As much as i crib about the government functioning, i thnk it’s only fair that i appreciate when something happens the way it should. The DMK-alliance govt had assumed power in May 2006. The flyover on the North Usman Road - Kodambakkam high road junction was commissioned a few months later I suppose, was thrown open to traffic last month.

I am not sure about the time overrun or cost overrun on this project, but from a ‘podhu janam’ perspective, this should go down as one of the better projects in terms of execution. I tried the Kodambakkam High Road from Vadapalani last week during peak hour and all but managed to get to Nungambakkam in about 15 minutes. I am yet to gather opinions from those who commute regularly from that area on the ease of congestion, but I guess at least the execution of this flyover project deserves special appreciation.

On similar lines, one leg of the Guindy grade separator was completed and thrown open to traffic. There is a marked drop in the traffic build up already.

Have we not heard some guru say, ‘Making life interesting is all in our control’?

This Tuesday morning, I got down at Tambaram from yet another trip down south and moved towards the East Tambaram terminus. The first thing I noticed was a bus to Velachery and the next thing to strike me was ‘paradox of choice’. At any given point in time, there are about 15 buses towards Velachery lined up in 1 km distance. I was not sure which one to get into. Common sense predicts that people catch the bus that leaves first. And one would’ve thought the bus which is more populated will leave first as well. Come try that You might’ve secured a seat in bus 1, only to find the bus stationed 4 buses behind you starting first Apparently this has worked so well and got so many positive feedback from commuters (doing things different, making life interesting and unpredictable blah blah) that our transport corporations has adopted this strategy all over Tamil Nadu and extended this to pricing the ticket fares as well.

The previous day, I travelled in mofussil bus from Virudhunagar to Thirumangalam, a distance of 25 kms. The fare was Rs.8 per ticket. The distance from ThirupurankundramThirumangalam to Madurai Periyar bus stand should be around 20 kms and you MUST take a town bus. Factors like town bus and lesser distance tempted me to think the fare would be lower. Ah, things were not so simple.

First I had some fun with the ‘Which bus starts first’ game as described above. After three attempts, I decided ‘let me get down and stand near the exit, that way I can catch the first bus which leaves the terminus first’. Hurrah, my strategy worked perfect!!
And it would be even more interesting to adopt this strategy with a 50+ year old lady and 4 bags

Coming to the fare, It was blind date again. I paid Rs. 11 on an orange color bus. My uncle tells me the yellow color (CITY EXPRESS?) bus costs less but not sure by how much. The LSS service comes even cheaper. And the ordinary service is the cheapest. Only catch - the ordinary bus is rarer to find than a white elephant.

In Chennai. the variants as far as I know here goes like - blue, yellow, orange, express service, A/C service, and last and definitely the least - ordinary buses. Needless to say, the fare varies as much as the colors as well.

I can understand that our transport corporations are attempting what HUL’s strategy to sell soaps from prices of Rs.5 to Rs.50. The only difference is, the price of the soap marketed by HUL is available upfront while the price and timing of the bus, we will come to know when it happens.

What’s next?

Plan A- I guess someone who is a regular in our city buses should start a web 2.0 site and let the readers post the fares for all the permutations and combinations. We can conveniently take a print out and have it handy before boarding the next city bus in Tamil Nadu. Kudos to the transport corporation for making our miserable lives as interesting as a video game, without the video

Plan B:
Catch a share auto

I was walking on Velachery Main Road this morning and could not help but notice the route number boards in our MTC buses.

The first bus was  some 21 series. 21H if I remember correctly. On the left hand side of the board was written ‘Broadway’ and on the right it had ‘Madipakkam’. I was confused until I realized the bus was going towards Guindy from Vijaynagar terminus. Which means in all probability it’s proceeding from Madipakkam to Broadway. I could figure this out since I am very much a Chennai vasi and I know the directions and locations of  well-known suburbs. I bet someone new to the city would’ve got into the bus thinking it would go to Madipakkam.

I got more curious and started to notice all the other buses which passed through namely in the next 5 minutes -  D70, 5A to name a few.

From what I observed today morning and previously, I think there are 3 types of boards - One with destinations written on left/right style one with destinations written on top/bottom  and lastly, some cut services which will have just a ‘TO’ Destination which is cearly struck off to indicate its a cut service.

All said and done, the best way for the boards is to display only the TO destination along with the route in much bigger font. To my mind, there is no use for ‘FROM’. But the ideas of the MTC folks seem to be funny, at best.

Except for those hailing from middle-east, the rest of the junta read from left to right. So if at all one wants the ‘FROM’ it makes sense to have it on the left and ‘TO’ on the right.

Alternatively, we can have the ‘FROM’ on the top of the board and ‘TO’ below.

Worse, we can assume all of us are from middle east and reverse it, uniformly!

But what the MTC folks have is the worst possible option - there are all types of boards with total disregard for consistency. One bus has the ‘FROM’ on the left while the rest have it on the right. I bet even those who can read Tamil and who is very much a chennai vasi will get coufused once in a while if he or she is not aware of the locations of the suburbs.

The less said about the plight of those new to the city and language, the better. Add our ‘friendly’ autrorickshaws to the equation and their ordeal looks scary enough for them to decide never to visit Chennai again in their lifetime.

I am basically a ‘tubelight’, if it can strike me, it can strike anyone whose voice matter in MTC. But then mysterious are the ways of MTC!

Sometime last week I had, shall we say the pleasure, of taking the much talked about IT Highway to the Prathyangara Devi Temple in Shozhinganallur. To be honest, the road is really cool from Madhya Kailash to SRP Tools. Never mind the fact that it took them ages to complete that 2-3 km stretch.
But the deal, or rather the ordeal, begins after that point. Regular commuters on that road will agree if I say it has become progressively worse what it was 1.5 years ago.

Certain landmarks remain intact even while new others have cropped up. For eg, I checked out the spot bang opposite CTS in Thoraipakkam, the swimming pool was intact even 2 weeks after the last drop of rain. IT Highway? Oh yeah!

Keerthi once mentioned, “Andha road la bus shock absorber ku epdi behave panradhu ne therila PK. Front right wheel and rear left wheel um kuzhi la irukkum. Mitha rendu wheelum periya kal mela irukkum” It may sound impossible, but does well to communicate the true state of the road.

Perhaps the Government might think now that anyway the road is due for major facelift upto Siruseri, why spend time and money on repairing?

But I can assure you no software engineer worth his backache will live long enough to see the improved version, if the present roads are any indication.

As if this experience was not enough, I took the Perungudi - Pallavaram bypass while returning. Ah, how I wish better sense had prevailed.

What I kinda knew was, the stretch between Perungudi and Kamakshi Hospital is the dumping yard for South Chennai. What I did not know was the fact that one lane of the road being usurped by the dump yard (Infrastructure development?).

It’s almost impossible to breathe. I say almost, because I guess i somehow did and survived to write this. That was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Yeah, never again that road in my lifetime!

And what is the latest I hear? Our esteemed IT majors  has decided to build one of their IT parks exactly at that very auspicious place. Talk about strategic positioning.
And oh yeah, there are a couple of huge residential apartments and it’s rumored they sell about 2000 per sqft!

Read the title again.

Recently, I entered the Sify Iway in Kasturibhai Nagar, Adyar

As soon as I entered, a lady asked me if i was a member. I nodded yes. She promptly asked me to fill in my details in a register. “Oh! Security” I told myself.

I entered my name, address, mobile number, email id, the in-time and signed near the right.

“Eludhiteengala? ” she asked.

I nodded again.

“Security” she called looking at the middle aged man in uniform.

“Ivar details elllam check pannunga” she ordered him.

That guy started his scrutiny. I was already feeling a bit uneasy about writing down all these details for the sake of print out.

“Sir, ungalukku photo Id irukka?”

I showed him my company ID card. But clearly exasperated by now. It occured to me that getting through the main gates in IIT Bombay even as a stranger was easier.

“Hm. Licence irukka?”

I showed him my laminated licence copy.

“Licence oda number eludhunga. ”

Thats it.

I decided i’ve had enough.

“Irukattum nga. unga browsing center neengale vechukonga!. naan vera edam poikaren”

For a brief moment, I was thinking if I’d entered some Tamil Nadu Government run browsing center by mistake.

For all this information collection, how do I ensure that the guys will not misuse my personal information?

The beauty is, I went to another Sify Iway in velachery and they hardly ever bothered to look at me. Who is following rules and who is overdoing it?

It is one thing to be cautious and alert and another thing to take this opportunity to be bureaucratic! I wish people were sensible enough to understand that.