Showing posts with label Pune. Show all posts

"अबे तुझे तीन हफ्ते हो गए ये कहते कहते कि इस हफ्ते जाऊँगा, इस हफ्ते जाऊँगा अब जायेगा भी कि यहीं डेरा डाल के बैठा रहेगा "

When 90 people got H1N1, everyone is wearing surgical masks, when 2 million people got HIV no one bothers to wear a condom.

Makes sense, Eh? Very true to an extent!

Pune is witnessing an acute shortage of surgical masks these days. Thanks to the dramatic hoopla created around these masks. And not to forget, we have a fancy N-series (not to be confused with Nokia N-series, though it’s no lesser) of masks in circulation. Masks seem to be in vogue – they are selling like hot cakes and they have started becoming more of a fashion statement.

"The much hyped N95 respirators are designed to filter 95% particulates of 0.3 micron, while the size of H1N1 virus is about 0.1 micron. Hence, dependence on N95 to protect against H1N1 is like protecting against rain with an umbrella made of mosquito net."

The Dean in AFMC circulated a notice saying, "No one should be seen wearing surgical masks unless while operating on a patient." Now, can you beat that? I was quite happy on this announcement. The basic idea is that people wearing these masks is just another source of creating panic.

Why don’t the people understand that these face masks are of no help (or of very limited help for that matter) to them, if not properly used/handled and why they don’t damn understand that when they throw these used masks on the road side, they are opening another bigger can of worms for others? Why can’t they dispose their masks properly? Why do they use these masks without knowing proper guidelines of their usage and disposal?

Can you really prevent yourself to come in contact with H1N1 when it is in so much magnitude in the air (Pune has it at the highest intensity level – 6)? At a scale where it has been declared a pandemic by the WHO, it’s almost impossible to avoid coming in contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

बचपन में एक चुटकुला सुना था। एक गाँव में जब भी कोई बूढा गुज़र जाता था, तो गाँव के स्कूल में एक दिन की छुट्टी कर दी जाती थी। एक बार दो दोस्त सुबह सुबह स्कूल जा रहे थे, तो एक गली में दो बूढे ताश खेल रहे थे। एक दोस्त बोलता है, "देख मोहन, अपनी दो छुट्टियाँ पत्ते खेल रही हैं।"

अचानक ये चुटकुला क्यों याद आया?

रविवार को मैं सब्जी लेने गया, तो रस्ते में ऐसा ही कुछ देखा। एक प्राईमरी स्कूल के बाहर दो बच्चे बात कर रहे थे। अचानक कुछ सूअर वहां से गुज़रे। एक गिनती करने लगा। और फिर दुसरे को कहता है, "ओये देख, ८-८ स्वाइन फ्लू ! अपनी एक महीने की छुट्टी होने वाली है।" उसके चेहरे पर वैसी ही स्माइल थी जैसी की दर्शील सफारी की थी जब वो "३ X ९ = ३" लिख कर खुश होता है। जो भी है, नादान बच्चे, अपनी ही दुनिया है। पर ये तो अच्छा है की इनको ये पता है की ये स्वाइन फ्लू शुरू कैसे हुआ? पुणे की यही बात ख़ास है - यहाँ के लोग (बच्चे भी) बहुत जागरूक हैं। पर बच्चों कि बात सुन कर, सूअरों ने भी आपस में बात कि होगी - "देखो बच्चों को भी पता चल गया। ये सब साला मेक्सिको के सूअरों ने किया, और इल्जाम हम पर लग रहा है। अब भैया गेहूं के साथ घुन तो पिसेगा ही !"

माहौल अचानक बदल सा गया है।

लोग मास्क पहन कर घूम रहे हैं।

कॉलेज के छात्र ऐसी बातें करते हुए मिल जायेंगे - "अगर फलां टीचर ने मुझे इस बार अच्छे नंबर नहीं दिए तो उसके मुंह पर जा कर छींक दूंगा।"

छात्र अपने मास्टरों के मुंह पर छींकना चाहते हैं, सॉफ्टवेर इंजिनेयर अपने मैनेजर के मुंह पर और मैनेजर लोग शायद अपने मैनेजरों के मुंह पर।" इस बार अगर अप्रैज़ल अच्छा नहीं किया, तो मैनेजर जी गए।"

लोगों में छीन्कासुर प्रवृति (भस्मासुर से प्रेरित) आ गयी है। दुश्मनी निकालने का अच्छा तरीका है।

मास्क जो कि सिर्फ डॉक्टर लोग पहनते थे, वो भी सिर्फ ऑपरेशन करते समय, अब हर कोई पहन रहा है।

लड़कियां अपने सूट से मैचिंग कलर के मास्क खरीद रही हैं। अब सूट से मैचिंग लिपस्टिक तो नहीं दिखेगी, मास्क ही सही।

पहले गर्लफ्रेंड-ब्वॉयफ्रेंड मोटर बाइक पर ऐसे बैठते थे कि बस क्या बताएं (दो के बैठने के लिए पर्याप्त जगह होती है, पर न पीछे वाली सीट फिर भी खाली, दोनों के बैठने के बावजूद), अब थोडी सामाजिक स्वीकार्य दूरी बना कर रखते हैं। (Now, Love is not in the air, Swine Flu is in the air...)

सब एक दुसरे को "स्वाइन फ्लू" भरी नज़रों से देख रहे हैं। इंसान इंसान से डर रहा है। पहले भी डरता था, पर पहले सिर्फ आतंकवादियों या ससुराल वालों से डरता था, अब हर तीसरे इंसान से डर लगता है।

लोग जप रहे हैं कि हे भगवान् इससे बचा ले, बस कुछ दिन और, फिर तो २-३ महीने में अपने होनहार डॉक्टर लोग इसकी दवा बना ही लेंगे।

अगर थोडी देर के लिए इंसान भूल भी जाये कि ऐसा कुछ हवा में चल रहा है, तो हर १०-१५ मिनट में एक मेल आ जाती है कि भैया इतने इत्मिनान से काहे बैठे हो, थोडा डर बनाये रखो चेहरे पर - जाके हाथ धो कर आओ, खबरदार! अपने आँख-नाक को हाथ मत लगाओ, खुजली करनी है तो हाथ से नहीं, बाजू से करो।

पर सब बीमारी का एक घूम-फिर कर एक ही इलाज दिखाई दे रहा है - अच्छा भोजन और अच्छी सेहत। जहाँ भी पढता हूँ, प्रोटीन खाओ, बी-१२ खाओ, खूब पानी पीओ, व्यायाम करो। एक्स्ट्रा ये है, कि सफाई बरतो, सार्वजनिक स्थलों पर कम से कम जाओ, ट्रैवेल कम करो।

After all, "Precaution is better than cure..." बचाव में ही सुरक्षा है। बाकी ये किसे पता है कि कब चाँद कि तरफ पैर हो जायें? मैं भी बस यही मना रहा हूँ कि सही सलामत बंगलोर पहुँच जाऊँ फिर आगे वहां से लिखूंगा। पर ये भी कहाँ लिखा है कि बंगलोर बचा रहेगा। बंगलोर वाले मुझे बोल रहे हैं कि हम तुझे यहाँ घुसने ही नहीं देंगे। :(

हैल्थ मिनिस्ट्री का लिंक:

http://mohfw.nic.in/SWINEFLU.htm

http://nicd.nic.in/Tdr_CDA_Swine.pdf

As a usual Saturday, I joined my friends for playing cricket at 8 in the morning. Played till 11. When I came back and had a look at my phone – 8 missed calls from a friend. “What happened to her?” Called her up! Excerpts:

[It’s ringing…]
Me – Hello!
Furious S – How many missed calls did you get from me?
Me – Eight.
Furious S – And could you see the interval between the missed calls?
Me – Hmm… quite frequent. The phone was not with me and I was playing cricket.
Not-so-furious S – $%$&#^
Me – Ok sorry, what’s it?
S – We are going to Lonavla.
Me – When?
S – Now!
Me – What?
S – We are going to have breakfast and then we’ll leave for Lonavla.
Me – But, how? All-of-a-sudden!
S – We were feeling bored, so thought of going. It’ll take us half an hour to finish
breakfast. Join us a Wakad quick.
Me – Half-an-hour!
[I need to go to the market, buy vegetables, prepare lunch for dad, wash some clothes (which I had already dipped in) and bath]
Me – Hmm… it’ll be a bit difficult for me to join you at Wakad. How about if I come by a train and join you at Lonavla only?
S – I don’t know. Make it fast. We are leaving soon. Bye!
Me – Ok, Bye!

[Hurry up boy! C’mon!]

Went (ran) to market, bought vegetables, washed clothes, prepared lunch (a chutney was the quickest I could think of), had bath and asked Saumik to get me the timings of “Express” trains to Lonavla. I was quick, so was he.
The best possible option was to catch “Pune-Manmad Express” at 12:45.

Told briefly to dad about the plan and left for station at 12:10. Everything was so fast; I had the ticket in my hand at 12:40. Train left at 12:55 (IST – 10 min late is so-much-on-time).

Reached Lonavla station at 1:40 and joined others at “Bushy dam” at 2:10 around 40 minutes after them.

It was our second stint at Lonavla and it was again outstanding. All of us headed for waterfalls. The weather was as usual more than pleasant, the flowing waters more than titillating and we more than cautious with our steps on slippery rocks. Of course we did not want to washout our cameras as we so-coolly did last time.

Last week we went to Bheemashankar and we were disappointed for not getting any waterfalls around with Paramita jumping on every site where the water was falling even from a height of 2 inches, "Hey, waterfall, waterfall!" [Literally … each “falling water” was a “waterfall”]
And here we were at Lonavla with the real waterfalls around us giving a perfect complement to our Bheemashankar trip.

The “giant waterfall” that we feared to enter last year was a bit mild this time (thanks to no rains in the last 2 days) and we left no stone unturned to enjoy the magnificent water-body. And because we managed to carry our cameras safe-and-sound till there, posed-a-lot and clicked-a-lot. These waterfalls are a place where the “serious” become “rollicking”, the “shy” become “playful” and the “naughty” become “impish”. “Maine subah se kuchh nahin khaya tha!”, but the moment I entered the waterfall the “hunger” got washed away and I became a part of the waterfall itself. I sat silently (people around me shouting continuously) closing my eyes (not by choice, but the volumes of water banging on my head did not let me open up) under the head-tapping stream (pelting stream rather) listening to the tabla it was playing on my top.

We came out of the fall after some 1.5 hrs – drenched, with a skin like 80 year old, much-much heavier clothes, absolutely deaf and hungry again. Gobbled up some vada-pavs and corns in no time. Reached back to the parking area, parked ourselves in a side restaurant and again gobbled up vada-pavs and kanda-bhajji (obviously, “Maine subah se kuchh nahin khaya tha!”). Then we walked all the way (~ 5 km) amid scenic clouds and mountains, which was a nice diet to our eyes too, back to Lonavla bus stand to catch the return bus.

Everything fell in place and in time for me since morning till the time to catch the bus back-to-Pune arrived. That's when I realized the 7 missed calls from dad. Called him up and told that I am already in a bus to Pune. We were looking for a bus with a particular route (via Wakad) so that the girls can comfortably drop into their homes en-route. My dad was calling frequently asking the whereabouts, raising the tension-meter and these 3 girls with me were "not bothered at all". Grrr... was that funny, because as per dad I should have entered Pune and I was still "loitering" at the bus-stop? Waited for around 45 minutes and let go 5-6 buses to Pune (because Wakad was not not on their routes) and see, we got into the worst possible bus after that. The bus took the longest possible route (not via wakad) and dropped us at Shivajinagar at 10 PM. Took autos to the respective places to reach home after 10:30 PM.

[Face Papa!] Ok, he is sleeping. Shh.. Just sleep, I'd face him tomorow.

But boy, the trip was oh-so-economical, spending not more than 150 per head (including everything – to-and-fro tickets, snacks, eatables and all the more fun). I have learnt that the trips planned (or not-planned) impromptu turn out to be more fun and leave us more satisfied in the end.

Check out the coincidence: Lonavla was the first place I trekked when I came from Bangalore to Pune and Lonavla is the last too when I am going back to Bangalore from Pune. My take away - this place will always bring pleasant memories to me.

As if the consistently crashing stock markets are not enough to irritate you and send a chill down your spine.

I usually don’t sleep while commuting in the bus. But yesterday was a one-of-its’s-kind day.

I boarded 6 PM bus from Infosys. At 6:45, we were hardly 1 km moved from the original position (Am talking about displacement (the vector), not distance). I usually sit on the first seat because you get space to spread your legs in front of you :P I looked back and found everyone “dead sleep”. So I too tried to sleep. Luckily, I succeeded somehow.

Why “Luckily”?
Because, that bus was so wrecked, the seats were not in good shape (no head rest) and the engine was roaring like anything. Traffic all round. I tilted myself against the glass window and slept. What I last remember before sleeping – we were at the entering foot of the "Wakad Bridge" (flyover). Slept for about half an hour when sudden brakes by the bus driver left me awake. When I woke up – we were still on the same flyover.

Now when I was awake, I put on the FM to my ears. Wow! All the radio stations (including our very own Vividh Bharti) were airing Himesh Reshamiya Songs. Did I have a choice, what frequency to tune?

At around 7:45, struggling through the rush, we caught an almost clear road. But… there are days when, whatever you do, however you do, you can’t escape the "so-called-luck" following you. We stopped at every Red Light on the way with a halt time of more than 60 seconds at each of them, all the way to AFMC.

The problem is – How to extricate from this? I am not able to find a personal solution for this problem. Should I change my route? Should I change my timings? Should I get a PMPML bus pass, and stop traveling by Infy buses. I will have a flexibility of route and timings in that case.

I just can’t imagine my plight when the most awaited “Commonwealth Youth Games” is round the corner. The traffic is going to go worse.

The only nice thing that I did yesterday was: Got my eyes registered for donation. Got to do more exercises now :P

Two bugs: [1] Traffic [2] Festival

I can’t believe I am saying this and I never thought that I’ll be saying this so early:

Whoa! Unbelievable! For the past two weeks, I am spending 2 hrs or more in Pune traffic from office to my home. And it never took me this long even on the worst days of traffic in Bangalore (I agree that I didn't live so far from Electronic City, but still).
Distance b/w Hinjewadi and AFMC ~ 25 km.
Time taken (at least) = 2 hrs.
By simple algebra, Average speed of my commute ~ 3.5 m/s
That is slower than a normal man's walking speed.

I ran out of Bangalore cribbing about the same thing, but the traffic seems to be following me. I actually felt a little comfort in my initial days in Pune but the situation worsened gradually and now I won’t hesitate in handing over the “Poorest traffic” trophy to Pune.

The jams seem to be a result of “Ganesh festival” going on and the situation is hoped to be improving from this Monday. Festival is OK, but people just don't have traffic sense.

We in India, have a many more seasons except the regular summer, winter etc. We have a season of weddings that goes from October to April in North India. Then we have a season of festivals. Two festivals, I have seen, seem to be very state specific. “Durga Pooja” in West Bengal and “Ganesh Chaturthi” in Maharashtra! These states seem to have a copyright on these two festivals. People collect funds to celebrate. The disciples of these Gods collect the funds from their respective societies in order to have huge celebrations on these festivals. On the contrary, I have seen people consuming alcohol on the money raised for these events (the very evening after Durga Pooja). Yesterday also, I saw some groups of people taking Ganesha idols for Visarjan, but the people were dancing drunk and they were smoking while carrying Ganesha. What is all this? Do people raise funds to celebrate or to feed upon it?

I don’t believe in God(s) but I am not even against those who have faith in them. But I appeal (to those who believe) to at least show some respect to the almighty, the one you fear the most. I had been much happier to see people collecting funds for “Bihar flood victims” and investing it there only. But “raising money for celebrating a festival and then spending it on uncompromising things” is just unacceptable. This is something “We Indians really need to learn”.

Sorry for being a bit late in writing this.

This Saturday I made myself lucky to visit Lonavla – A place of waterfalls. Finally, I set myself out for my “first adventurous trip” after coming to Pune and it was simply amazing.

Protagonists (7): Jharna, Nandita, Trupti, Savita, Shambhu, Jigar, Praveen

We booked a Qualis and started at 7:30 in the morning, but spent around 2 hrs in Pune itself picking people from their respective places. Played UNO on the way, so could not concentrate much on the sceneries en route, which I felt later, we should have.
Reached Lonavla at around 10:30. When we got down from the cab after reaching the place, the weather was awesome with wind at full speed. We were busy clicking photographs and there it comes - RAIN. It started with little showers and turned into a heavy downpour in no time.

Initially being hesitant in getting wet, the feeling was completely washed away by the showers in the face as we leapt towards one of the waterfalls (out of many facing us) in the downpour itself. A miscalculation here: Except me and Jigar, everyone took their mobile phones along with them and Shambhu’s digicam too. For some it was intentional while others were just carried away by the excitement and forgot to leave them back in the cab.

Jharna’s handbag came to rescue the ruined gadgets but little did it help. The damage was already done. Though we were in full rain, completely soaked, we didn’t stop clicking photographs putting a shade of hands around the camera and mobiles. Little did we realize that the water had found a way into the gadgets?
So, the cost of the trip was Shambhu’s camera and all the Sony Ericsson phones (except mine, Jigar had Nokia) we had. Some of them are able to revive themselves while others are still to be brought back to life. So, the photographs are awaited till these gadgets start breathing again.

The Giant Waterfall: The scenario was like this. We are enjoying in a waterfall. Suddenly, we see another waterfall far away. A mutual decision to reach there. Hit that waterfall. Then the next and the next… Jharna evolved to be a falling girl (she didn’t miss any opportunity to slip, or fall), Nandita evolved to be a fish (she even lied down in one of the waterfalls), Trupti and Savita were quite cautious with their steps (thankfully!). In this scheme of things, we happened to hit a giant waterfall all set to mesh up anything that comes its way. The force was terrific and we could see the force increasing. Some of us sat at one of the slim legs of the waterfall but not for long. The water was hitting very hard at our backs. And it was so loud that we had to literally shout to make ourselves hear. There was a Vada-Pav, tea-coffee shop nearby this waterfall. It was so cold around that even a 50 Rs./tea cup won’t hurt you.

Serendipity: After enjoying this – one of the heaviest waterfalls around, we decided to come back to our cab. On the way, out of the excitement of exploring the place, we took a different route and kept moving until we discovered that we are lost. But the place where we were lost was such a beauty. Pristine it was! It was greener than the greenest and enclosed by a wire fence. The only disappointment was: Our camera had already been feasted upon by the cruel rains. So, couldn’t click the shots there :(

We did some calculations, listening to the voices of people shouting far away to figure out a way out of this scenic place. Somehow, we found our way back. I actually had my only fall of the trip on this way. Trying to be over smart, I thought of jumping over a small water stream while others followed a decent route. I jumped and landed on a rock which was not firm on the ground. The rock rolled over but the momentum took me forward (with a lost balance) only to make me fall in the mud. The ugly face of the fall: This was the only place till now, which didn’t have clear water. The group had a nice laugh on my fall. I would say I was lucky that we didn’t have the camera at that time, though Nandita managed to get some shots on her mobile while I was cleaning myself in the stream water.

Lost and Found: After conquering a series of waterfalls (one after the other) and Bushy Dam, we started towards the “Shooting Point”. We found “Amby Valley” and “Air Force Station” on the way but only Armed Forces personals are allowed to enter, so moved ahead. We got down at “Shooting Point” and left the cab on the road. We had moved just about 8-10 meters in the chilling wind without realizing what is following us. When we turned back, we found that our cab is lost, even the road was not visible. Such was the density of clouds. But again, the place with its ultimate beauty was just like a meadow. And we could realize its real beauty only when the clouds were carried away by the wind and there it spreads in front of us - the green expanse.

We climbed up, we climbed down, we shot, we slipped, we fell, we ran, we did all fun that we could in the beautiful space. Away from the project, away from the work, away form any kind of tension, it was a day.
We were completely drenched for 12 continuous hours. The funny thing, even if we (boys) had extra changing clothes with us, we didn’t feel like changing. We were in rains the whole time, so no point in changing clothes if you don’t have an umbrella. The girls in the group proved to be “the intelligent beings” (at least here) to get themselves changed and even had umbrellas.

The bad part: Such trips usually have some disappointing parts. But we didn't have any except that the driver of the Qualis was new to the routes and he didn’t have much knowledge about the places and the routes. Result – so many U-Turns. We had about 8-10 of them during the day. Time waste! U-turn is not just a U-turn; you also have to cover a section of route again. Result – Didn’t get enough time to visit Khandala.

On the way back, it was all Jharna and Nandita, the singing sensations of the group. These girls have the lyrics of each song by heart (along with the dance steps, of course), howsoever latest the song is. The talent is amazing.

We were back in Pune at around 10:30 PM. I still wet, entered my room at 11:30 PM. Had a bath, made myself banana shake, brushed my teeth and off to sleep at 12:10.

Special thanks to Shambhu that he was always ready with his money bank to buy the Vada-Pavs, tea-coffeee, pakodas, bhajjis or any other eatables, anytime, anywhere – on roads, inside the waterfalls, at the dam, the shooting point and all other places that I have missed. A twist here too: His wallet along with the money, the cards etc… was left with Jharna (in the protective bag) when she got down at her place and resultantly, Shambhu had to spend his Sunday sleeping and feeding on friend’s pockets :)

All in all, a memorable trip! My first from Pune and hence one of my best weekends here with a wonderful group of friends.

Highlights:
[1] Waterfalls – There are plenty
[2] Bushy Dam – Consisted of three waterfalls in itself.
[3] Shooting Point – Movies are shot here.
[4] Lions Point – Couldn’t see much because of very dense fog. Even the place was a little dirty because of a commercialization.
[5] Walvan Dam – The surrounding area is all gardens, though we couldn’t witness much because of the “Strictly Private…” notices.[6] The moment I took my feet off my shoes. What a moment man, really! My feet breathed like anything.

Points to remember (learning, as they say):
[1] Average expenditure per head if go by cab (from Pune): Rs 400
[2] Trekking shoes – Beware of the slippery rocks! You slip one, you slip all!
[3] Extra changing clothes plus towel
[4] Most Imp: Leave your mobile phones in the cab, if you really want to enjoy. If you are “I can’t live without my phone” types, have a water proof poly bag handy. The falls won’t show mercy to your costly gadgets and you know these electronic gadgets are too much water prone.

Thanks for dialing in. Stay tuned for the pics!

Ah! this is going to be my fastest blog ever.

I have to take PR301 certification (it's Infy's internal) in this month only and damn! I am not finding time to prepare for it.

If any of you is not aware, let me tell this: "Infosys Employees have to undergo a certification process in order to get a role change (promotion)". Yeah! that's true. Those who fail to clear the certification exams for their respective roles and the tenure in Infosys do not not stand eligible for the role change process, or their promotion process is derailed. Here are more details (official announcement): Infosys employees to undergo certification for promotion

Every year an infoscion has to take at least 2 certification exams - one technical and one domain. The certifications also play a role in the annual CRR (Consolidated Relative Ranking) process. This year its PR301 in technical bucket for me. Four advanced courses:

> Advanced UNIX - Kernel Programming

> Advanced C Programming

> Advanced Oracle Tuning

> Advanced Database Tuning

Hell! I haven't worked on "C" for a long time now and adding to the my misery, it's the advanced course - Variadic functions, locales etc... which I have no idea about. Plus, the passing % has been raised to 70%. Earlier it used to be 65%.

I am having completely packed days in office - no time to study for all this. The weather here in Pune is at its best currently. No time to enjoy that even. Past 3 weeks were completely soaked in work. Scripts being released to production almost every alternate day.

Somehow, I have started preparing for PR301 - after reaching home. But I am not happy with the pace. I get just one hour to study at home. With this pace I won't be able to finish all of it till June end. I am getting just 6 hrs of sleep everyday. I think I need one more hour of it. But I want to get out of this state of despair, quickly.

Note: I managed to write this because I have set a data load script running and I know it would take 8-10 minutes to execute. This is a superfast blog entry. So, sorry for the spelling / grammatical errors, if any.

Today I took a different bus to office than I usually catch (via a shorter route that I never knew). Actually, this is something that has occupied my mind since this morning. Let me start with a small analysis.

Everything has its pros and cons. I am talking about the distance of the commute between house and office. Those who stay near to office (around 8-12 kms) definitely save their time spending less time in the company bus as compared to those who live farther. But they have another set of problems to face:

1. Not all buses stop for them. Reason: The buses are packed by the time they reach their place.
2. If any of the buses stop to pick them, they don't get a seat to park themselves.

I don't know the policies of other companies, but in Infosys, Wipro ... buses (especially here in Pune), this is a common scene. Usually female employees opt to stay nearer to the office. So, they are the ones who face the above mentioned problems. They keep waving hands at the buses and the buses flagging their "NO VACANT SEATS" board, pass by. Eventually, they do spend ample time waiting on the road to get into a bus.

Anyways, this is not something I am going to discuss here.

See, we can't help in case of problem one. We can only ask the transport department of our organizations to increase the number of buses - which I tried, but they have an explanation: they have tried (and even succeeded) to cover each and every route of the city, they have counted the number of employees (having bus passes) at each location and manage the timings and routes accordingly, which, on their part sounds quite logical. Actually they have around 12 extra buses running in the city at any given point of time than the exact number of buses required to carry the employees from different parts of the city. I don't have any complaints after that. So, problem one is inevitable.

But in case we face problem two. I am sitting in the bus running to office. Girl employees rush into the bus at one of the stops. Some of them manage to grab a seat but one or two of the lot don't get a seat. I feel I should get up and give the seat to her and I did exactly that. I got up and gave my seat to her. She is happy and I am also happy - anyways its just 15-20 minutes distance. I can manage standing :) Now, at a stop further, some more girls get into the bus. I feel helpless at this point of time. I had only one seat and that's gone. I can't ask others to get up and donate their seats. I know one thing, I have observed this: There are people who want to help but don't have the courage to help. They don't feel like saying,"Excuse me, can you please sit here?" Sometimes they do act, but act late. So, there are good people but they don't let their benignity come out. Something similar happened in the bus today. A girl was standing near to a guy who was sitting with his earphones on (must be listening to radio on his phone). I was looking, standing. After around 10 minutes, he finally did it. He put off his ear plugs and kindly asked her to settle while getting up from his seat. The situation was a bit funny as well as outlandish because he didn't do it instantly. It took him 10 minutes to show that gesture. But I was even happier when I saw another guy sitting besides our hero also got up along with him vacating seat for another lady. I don't know if it was mutual or a follow up.

I didn't know any one in the bus when I got inside. But now I very well know these two boys who showed a little courage for a good cause. Good deed actually. And I am sure they enjoyed what they did and next time they will act real fast :)

Such little nice deeds are a great source of happiness. Believe me, it gives a very nice and pleasant feeling. A feeling of satisfaction, pride.

1. Always get up when you see an old person (respect silver hair) or a physically challenged person standing (Be a gentleman, please!)
2. If not the above, the least you can do is offer a help in holding their bags while you are sitting.

Do try it out! A responsible and wise citizen will get down from the bus when you get down. Remember the Lead India song: "तुम चलो तो हिंदुस्तान चले..."

No, the CSF here is not "Central Security Force" or "Critical Success Factor" or "Connected Services Framework". It's something new. Actually I happened to have my first encounter with this new CSF this morning. Here it goes:
I have been doing early morning workouts (jogs, exercises etc.) since I was four or five - that makes around 20 years now. Getting up at 4 or 5 in the morning is quite a routine.
But, today something unusual happened. This had never happened with me till date.

I was carrying out with my normal morning exercises. 5:20 AM. I was doing pilates - bent backwards and stretched myself backwards as much as I can. Similar to what appears in the image to the left here. But I was standing.
I remained in the position for about 10 seconds and then I sprang back to my normal standing position. I did it at once, with a jerk. Blunder! Now, I could't see anything, I couldn't stand, I didn't have any control over my body, felt powerless and helpless. I just sat on the stairs of the stadium and then collapsed. I fainted. I regained conciousness after maybe 5-6 seconds or so. Though I got up and continued with my next set of exercises, but I knew something went wrong, couldn't push this idea out of my head. You see, I was consciously unconscious - I knew I am unconscious. Went back to the room and told papa about this with a worried face. Papa being a doctor, so cool.
(Hello! I fainted and he is kewl?)
Replied, "Nothing to worry. You just shouldn't have got back with a speed. You should have done it a bit slowly and smoothly."
"No Papa, that's not the concern. Why did it happen?"
"It happened because of CSF - Cerebral Spinal Fluid. It is a fluid in our head around the brain. When you leaned backwards, it got collected towards that portion of head. It takes sometime for the fluid to float around. So, when you got back up from the stretched back, you didn't give time to the fluid to be back to normal - you collapsed."
"Are you sure, there is nothing to worry? (I am really worried actually) "
"Nah re! but just keep this in mind for future."

I recalled "Hmmm... That's why he never allowed me to spring back while doing this earlier."

Since morning, I am "Googled up" about this. Got a lot of information. If someone wants to learn more, Here it is:
CSF - Cerebrospinal fluid (Wiki) OR CSF - Answers

So next time if something similar happens to you, don't worry, just try to get your CSF to normal position :)

Till then ... Keep exercising!
But a thumb rule while doing any exercise: "Never do anything with a jerk. No sudden or abrupt movements. Each and every action should be smooth - even breathing."

I am new to Pune city. As a daily routine, I catch a bus from my company to my place and I don't know much about the areas I cross on the way. The normal timings are: I get on to the bus at 6 PM and get off at around 7:30. What happened yesterday is - A road construction had just begun in "Kondhwa" area. We were almost in the middle of the route when we diverted from the normal route from this junction where the traffic policeman was guiding the traffic away from Kondhwa. We were on a completely new route now. And in the last 2 months, I had never seen so much traffic and such a big traffic jam in Pune. The roads are wide enough, clean enough and the traffic is decent. But now I was in a completely different Pune. Our bus started circling the city. After struggling for around one hour on a completely novel route, we entered the city via one of the holes (entrant road). I was feeling good that at least we are into the main city now but I was oblivious as to which part of the city I was in. Still I was constantly looking out of the window and noting down the areas I was crossing. Then it striked me, "What if the bus is very close to my place?" The thought was enough to bring a grin on my face. It was 8 PM when the bus stopped at one of the red lights. I don't know, but my sixth sense made me to get down from the bus. And here I am, I don't know where? I asked a couple on scooter - "Which way to take to go to AFMC". The response - "Sorry, we are new to this place". Oh! like me? And I started moving intutively in one of the directions. Phone rings. Some unknown number. I received, "Hello". A girl voice on the other side.

Girl: Hello, I am calling from Idea customer care. May I speak to Mr. Praveen Rathee.
PR: Yes, I am speaking.

Girl: Hello Sir, I wanted to confirm your phone number. Is it 99******44?
PR (Surprised at the question, What kind of question is this, didn't she just dial the same?): I hope you dialled this number. So, that's right.

Girl: Thank you sir.
(A small pause - about 2 seconds)
Girl: Sir, may I have two minutes of your precious time?
I thought, "Of course, my time is helluva precious at this moment. I am somewhere in the middle of a road and don't know which way to go.".
PR: Yes, tell me?

Girl: Sir, I wanted to take you through the...
PR (interrupting, realizing that it is something that is going to take long): Actually, I am lost in the city (I am laughing).

Girl (amazed voice): Lost in the city?
PR: Yes, I am new to this city and right now I am somewhere struggling to find my way back home.

Girl (a feeling of guilt): Oh! I am sorry sir. May I call you sometime later?
PR: Sure, you can call me tomorrow morning. (tiny pause) Wait a second... Hello... You there?

Girl: Yes sir.
PR: Can you please guide me through my way? (I didn't wait for her response) See I have just crossed this area ... (thinking very hard) ... "Bibwewadi" and my bus was going towards "Kondhwa"; I got down and now I am standing on a red light. And I have to go to AFMC. Can you please let me know which way to take?

(All this time I continued walking)

Girl: Sir, can you please tell me any landmark around you? Just to know which red light you are on.
PR: Actually I am walking. And there is this "GREEN Hotel" to my right and "Electric Substation" to the left.

Girl: Sir, I guess you are close to AFMC. Can't you see any signboard nearby? It would be easier.
(I am walking faster now taking long strides... Brisk walk)
PR: No. Right now I can't see any signboard.

Girl: If the "Electric Substation" is to your left, you just keep walking straight on this road. You are already into the cantonment area.
PR (gazing far ahead through the dark, getting on toes): Mmmm... I can see a board. Can you please hold on for a sec? I am getting closer to that.

Girl: Sure Sir.
(Pause... And to my extreme happiness, The board read: "पुणे छावनी - Pune Cantonment")
PR: You are right, I am in the military area. But are you sure I have to keep walking straight.

Girl: Sir, you just don't leave this road and you'll get AFMC to your left.
(I am running now and a few steps ahead I see a colony - Netaji Nagar)
PR: Thank you madam. I am in front of Netaji Nagar and I very well know the way from here. Thanks a lot.

Girl: Welcome sir. (Laughs) I hope you really know the route now.
PR: Yes. I do. I have been to this place some time back.

Girl: OK sir. Take care. Bye.
PR: Yeah. Thanks again. BBye.

I knew that region because Papa took me through this area around a month ago as a part of morning walk. I just couldn't figure it out because it was dark. It was 15 minutes of walk. I was home at 8:15 PM. Took bath, had dinner, brushed my teeth and slept. No post dinner walk as I had enough a lttle while ago :)
Today morning when I asked other passengers, what time did they reach? I found that I was the earliest, most of them entered their respective houses after 8:45. I was feeling proud of my decision of getting down the bus (I deserved a pat on the back). I was even happier that I got down at the nearest possible point to AFMC. Great timing! I didn't have to do any auto, or any bus, public transport etc. :) We can call it LUCK.
The mistake I made was I didn't ask my bus driver before getting down.
But that was fun. Idea cellular service providers guiding their customers through Pune roads. What an Idea!

I am back from Chandigarh to Pune this Sunday after a vacation of one week.

With four hops, the journey was awsome. Quite a few reasons for that:

1. Chandigarh to New Delhi - Jan Shatabdi AC Chair Car: Its a new train that has been started for this route and the thing to excitement is that the fare is just Rs. 107 (even less than the bus which is Rs. 135). How good it is to travel in an AC coach with so less fare?


2. New Delhi to Mumbai Central - Rajdhani Express AC 2-tier: The name of the train itself is quite exciting. After waiting for around 2 hrs on New Delhi station and confirming my seat in the coach, when I entered the train, I felt rejuvenated. No crowd, no noise and a titillating mild scent sprayed in the coach. That was very refreshing. This being my first time in Rajdhani that too in AC 2-tier was a great experience. Thanks to Papa who got me the last minute reservation. The train dropped me off at Mumbai Central exactly at the scheduled time (exactly 16 hrs), but I didn't want to get down. The food served was very nice - Juice, beverages, candies, refreshments and the main course (dinner and breakfast) all were sumptuous.


3. Mumbai Central to Dadar - I landed in Mumbai for the first time. The very first thought I had when I stepped down the train, "Oh! what if I get to see some high profile filmstar like Sharukh or Aamir here." That was just a starting. I even thought of having a glance of some beautiful actress, maybe Vidya Balan. Why the hell will they come to railway station on a Sunday morning? Oops! even if its not a Sunday. Ok, may be for some shooting. It took me around 15 minutes to get a local train ticket to Dadar and all the time my thoughts went through a falling graph. I started thinking with Sharukh, Vidya etc. , went through Salman, Katrina (Ok, I am fine even if I meet Navjot Sidhhu) and finally perched on Raj Thackrey. What if some people come and ask me where do I belong to? I say - Rohtak. Where is it? Haryana. Oh! thats North India, send him back. Take his luggage and scare him out of this place. "Take his luggage? Hey! I have got 'Besan ke laddoos', I won't give it to you." Drowned neck deep in all these thoughts, I even forgot to take back the change from the ticket window. Never mind, that was just 2 Rs. :) I got my ticket to Dadar. I was already warned by Papa that stand near the door of the local train and jump out as soon as the platform arrives because the people rush madly into the train. I did as directed and managed to get down safely with my luggage on Dadar station. But, I appreciate the service of Mumbai local trains. They are on time, they halt for only 10 seconds at each stop, they have a separate track for themselves and they are damn too fast.


4. Dadar to Pune - Ok, the only irritating and tiring part of my journey. I had the ticket of "Hyderabad Express" and gosh! I am travelling in "Koyna Express". Thats no legal. And I was so happy that I have the ticket of an AC 3-tier berth. And to my surprise, there is no AC coach in this train, just one AC chair car coach. So, I went inside that. I took one of the empty chairs. TT was ought to come and he came. I told him that I have the ticket for another train which will come after 3 hrs and I didn't want to wait that long in this 42 degree heat. He told that at next stop, all seats will be full and if I can manage standing. I said absolutely no problem. I was lucky enough to have a cool TT. Where I was thinking of getting a fine, and where I travelled in the only AC compartment of the train. The sight seeing is really cool on this route - the train passes through a very beautiful terrain, running through a couple of tunnels. Though this train was 10 minutes late of its scheduled time at Pune (that too due to some maintenance activity going on at some peices of railway line), it can be condoned looking at the present day scenario where most of the trains run much late of their schedules.

Overall, I enjoyed the journey to my fullest. Maybe, because I travelled on rails after a long time. I have been travelling in air only for the past 2.5 years. Though flights can save you time, but journey by train has its own charm and excitement. :)

बिजली - मेरा मानना है कि तीन प्रकार की होती है:
१. प्राकृतिक बिजली - जो बादलों में चमकती है।
२. मानव निर्मित बिजली - जो घरों में पंखे चलाती है।
३. याना गुप्ता की बिजली - जो प्रकृति ने मानव में भर दी है (बाबु जी ज़रा धीरे चलो, बिजली खड़ी) ।
पिछले हफ्ते ही पुणे पहुँचा और ढाई साल बाद यह अनुभव किया कि बिजली के बिना इंसान की नींद कैसे ख़राब होती है। बिजली गुल होते ही मच्छर अपने तानपुरे लेकर गाजे-बाजे के साथ आपका मनोरंजन करने पहुँच जाते हैं और अब यही आपके साथी होते हैं - इनमें से ही अपने अपने मनपसंद गायकों को चुन लीजिये और रात भर उनके साथ गुन गुनाइये।
वैसे बिजली के बिना रहने का अनुभव मैं बहुत पहले से करता आया हूँ, पर जब कल रात को फिर से मच्छरों ने मुझ पर हमला किया तो मुझे अपने साथ हुए सारे ऐसे हादसों का स्मरण हो आया। सबसे पहले याद आई मुझे रेल विहार की वह रातें जो इतनी वीरान और भूतिया थीं की सोच कर ही डर लगे। हम चार लोग (मैं, अभिषेक अस्थाना, प्रियांशु बहुगुणा और अमित भरद्वाज) उस सरकारी आवास में रहते थे। हमने कभी उस इलाके में न किसी लड़की को देखा था, न किसी हम उम्र लड़के को, देखा था तो सिर्फ़ बहुत छोटे छोटे बच्चों को या फिर बूढों को। वहाँ हमारी उम्र का कोई भी नहीं रहता था। आस पास कोई दुकान भी नहीं थी कि भूख लगे तो जा कर कुछ खा लें। हम दूसरी मंजिल पर रहते थे (D 4/9) और हमारी बालकनी से एक छोटा सा बगीचा दिखाई देता था जिसमे सिर्फ़ दो झूले थे। रात को जब बिजली जाती थी तो कोई माँ अपने छोटे छोटे बच्चों को लेकर झूले झुलाने के लिए ले आती थी। हैरानी की बात यह थी कि रात का कोई भी समय हो, कितना भी बजा हो, समाँ यही होता था और जब झूला झूलता था तो उसमें से ऐसे आवाज़ आती थी जैसे कोई भूतिया फ़िल्म कि शूटिंग चल रही हो। बच्चे रोते रहते थे (मैं सोचता था कि रात के दो बजे इन बच्चों को कोई और काम नहीं है रोने के सिवा) और झूला अपना गाना गता रहता था। दोनों मिलकर ऐसा माहौल बनाते थे कि अपने बाल नोचने का दिल करे।
रेल विहार की ही एक रात मैं कभी नहीं भूल सकता। हमारे पहले सेमेस्टर के इम्तिहान चल रहे थे। हमारे घर पर पढ़ाई का माहौल रहता था (अभिषेक और प्रियांशु जैसे दिग्गज जो रहते थे :P) इसलिए हमारा दोस्त प्रवेश भी इन दिनों हमारे घर पढ़ाई करने आ जाता था। अगले दिन अंग्रेजी का पेपर था और प्रवेश ने हमारे घर में प्रवेश किया और बिजली गुल। अब क्या किया जाए? हमने निर्णय लिया कि हम बिजली के खंभे के नीचे बैठ कर पढ़ाई करेंगे। निर्णय अनुसार, हम लोग एक खंभे एक नीचे बैठ कर पढ़ाई करने लगे लेकिन हमारे साथी मच्छरों ने भी हमारा साथ दिया। उन्हें बहुत समझाया कि भैया अभी पढने दो बाद में खेलेंगे, लेकिन मच्छरों को अपनी बे-इज्ज़ती बर्दाश्त नहीं हुई, हमारी एक न सुनी। हार कर हमने खम्बा बदला। हम खंभे बदलते रहे और मच्छर हमारे पीछे पीछे। लगभग एक घंटे तक यही पकड़ा पकड़ी का तमाशा चलता रहा। फ़िर हमने सोचा कि क्यों न कॉलेज में जा कर पढ़ाई की जाए?
अपने अरमानों को पंख लगाये, हम कॉलेज पहुंचे। वहाँ बहुत मुश्किल से गेट कीपर को पटाया, तो उसने कहा कि बाहर स्टेज पर ही बैठ कर पढ़ाई कर लो, अन्दर बिल्डिंग में नहीं जाना है। हम उसके निर्देशानुसार स्टेज पर चढ़ गए। अब स्टेज पर चढ़कर पढ़ाई कौन करता है भाई? स्टेज तो नाचने, गाने और ड्रामा करने कि जगह होती है। उन दिनों लड़कियों के हॉस्टल के लिए नए नए गद्दे आए थे और वो स्टेज पर ही रखे थे। बस लड़कों के शैतानी दिमाग से पेपर गायब हो गया। गद्दों के कवर फाड़ फाड़ कर उसमे पर्चियां बना बना कर डालनी शुरू कर दीं और पर्चियों पर लड़कियों के नाम संदेशे - किसको कौन लड़की अच्छी लगती है? कौन अच्छी नहीं लगती है? कौन किसे क्या कहना चाहता है? करीब दो घंटे वहाँ तफरी करने के बाद हम घर (रेल विहार) वापिस आ गए। तब तक बिजली आ चुकी थी। पढ़ाई का बिल्कुल मूड नहीं था और नींद से बुरा हाल था। घर पहुँचते ही हम गहरी नींद में सो गए। भगवान् कि कृपा से हम पास तो हो गए पर जो तैयारी हमने कि थी उसे याद करके आज भी हँसी आ जाती है।

उसके बाद मनोज विहार (K-171) कि वो रात, जब महाराज प्रियांशु को मच्छरों के गीत सुनना गवारा नहीं हुआ और उसने बिजली चले जाने पर कछुआ जलाया, वो भी अखबार पर रख कर और हमारे हीरो ने lighter भी अखबार के ऊपर ही छोड़ दिया और फिर लम्बी तान कर सो गया। अब कछुआ जल रहा है मेरे बिस्तर के सामने। जब कछुआ जला तो साथ में अखबार भी जला, अखबार जला तो lighter भी जला, और जैसे ही lighter जला, एक विस्फोट हुआ, lighter फटा और उड़कर सीधा मेरे मुंह के सामने से रॉकेट कि तरह निकल गया। प्रियांशु ने जो मिशन शुरू किया था वो सफल नहीं हुआ और उसका निशाना चूक गया। मेरी आँख बाल बाल बच गयी।

ऐसी ही न जाने कितनी रातें याद आई, शिप्रा सनसिटी (440-D) में जब बिजली जाती थी, तो छत पर चले जाते थे और उल्टी सीधी सब तरह कि बातें करते थे, हरकतें करते थे। अस्थाना जी तो अक्सर मोमबत्ती कि रोशनी में पढ़ाई करते थे।

बिजली के न होने से भी इतनी यादें जुड़ी हैं, मैंने सोचा नहीं था लेकिन जब कल रात फिर से मच्छरों से सामना हुआ तो सब याद आ गाया।