Here in India, the rich don't obey rules because they are 'rich'; and the poor don't obey the rules because they are 'poor'

I liked these words fromJames Altucher's this article : http://jamesaltucher.quora.com/How-To-Be-A-Slave

"Money won't solve all of your problems, but it will solve your money problems."

Creating employment - the stupid way

I saw workers unload a train load of cement bags today, at Alwaye Railway station, near Kochi(Kerala, not Japan, obviously). It's hundreds of tonnes of cement, in 50kg bags, each carried on head, to the trucks parked nearby. 

No, automation is not yet in agenda here. 

It's a very defined set I procedure they're doing - lift the cement bags, move to the truck, keep it there in stacks. It could've been done much faster, in better order and very efficiently by a simple machine, instead of tens of labourers carrying the loads, one at a time. 

It definitely is a point that employment opportunities should be created, and everyone should have jobs. But should it be by appointing 30-40 men doing inefficient jobs which can actually be very quickly and efficiently done by one or two men and a simple machine? I don't think this is the way forward. This is the way back to 1910. 

How many employees are required to run a bus service in Kerala, the most literate state in India? 

4 : One driver, one 'conductor' to serve tickets to the passengers, one guy to open and close the front door, another to open and close the back door. Very funny indeed.

I have a strong disagreement with creating employment opportunities like this. If India has strong workforce, why can't our nation be a world leader in manufacturing high quality products and exporting? Why can't we humans focus on doing things which machines can't do? 

We have to find better things to spend our valuable time than being a replacement for simple machines.

Why don't they just do it?

We all know that hundreds of people fall from trains by being pushed out by the doors closing accidentally. Even while writing this on the way to Bangalore from Kochi in the Intercity Express, the door very near to me will close if the brakes are applied reasonably quick, pushing out anyone who sits on the doorsteps. My question is, why don't they fit a simple latch to keep the door in open position? It won't cost much, and is simple enough to avoid even any discussion about whether to have it or not.

But still our train doors keep on helping people out when they don't really want to.

The simple reason I can think of is that the politicians who rule or the employees who work in Railways are by no way affected by the number of people who die because of this.  Employees get proper tickets on time, and politicians never travel in trains. Period.

And surely, they have excuses for everything - people are not supposed to travel on doorsteps. Definitely. Not at all. But unfortunately, they do. And they will do. If they don't do it out of instinct, they'll be forced to do it by the hundreds of people who travel in an 80 - odd seater general compartment.

Tatkal woes

Invariably, every Saturday mornings and Thursday mornings we find big queue of tired people in Railway Reservation counters, waiting for Tatkal tickets since as early as 3 am in the morning. The counter opens only at 10 am, and it's a rush of all the frustrated ticket-ambitious crowd. Waiting in a mosquito-haunted city railway station for 7+ hours is definitely not the best thing to do in the morning.

Train tickets are a privilege at least here in South India. For weekends you have to book 2 months in advance, on the very first day when the bookings open, to avoid being in the waiting list, which goes to 300+, every time. 

If Indian Railways wanted either to make better profit or to serve people better, why is this continuing for years? Once in a while, maybe for festival seasons, there can be rush- if demands are not properly analysed and measures are not planned accordingly. But here it's happening every week, at least twice, for years. If this problem can't be resolved without improving infrastructure, then it should be addressed so. It's not a huge risk to invest that much on a project which is a guaranteed hit. Then railways can sell tickets as much as people needs.

They can add more compartments to include more people even on the day of travel, by keeping some extra compartments and engines ready at the starting point. If the engine can't pull the entire new length, use an extra engine. Goods trains are pulled by multiple engines, usually. If adding two big engines is not efficient for additional 200 passengers, develop smaller engines and couple one big engine and one small engine to pull the train efficiently. The small engine can possibly be kept idle most of the times other than starting from standstill or a very low speed.

If tickets are available any time, people can book the ticket on a date when they are almost certain to travel, which will reduce cancellations.

The passengers are to be given importance and facilities should be designed and built to address the needs of customers. Who all wants to travel and are ready to pay for it should be given the tickets, without the premium requirement of planning all the travels at least 2 months earlier or standing in queue for 7.5 hours.

Excuses they make

Govt asked people to save fuel to help falling rupee value.

For travelling 22-23 km to my office we burn fuel for 1.5 hours in Bangalore's broken, crowded roads.

This is called 'excuse', in my opinion. I mean the first statement :)

The Parliamentary India

3-4 days back, I heard from some regular update websites about an achievement made by researchers in Washington University - they demonstrated 'brain - to - brain' communication through internet. A really scary one, I'd say. Someone can control your body by giving signals to your brain directly. There was a demo video as well. One guy was seeing a computer game in a monitor and thinking when to shoot a ball on the screen, and another guy, in a different location sitting with a keyboard alone, and tapping the keyboard occasionally - when the former is thinking about hitting the space bar, the latter is actually doing it without knowing. We discussed it in office and among friends, and I shared the link to some of my friends and kins. What more, the demo was done by an Indian. That's really 'some' news for us Indians.

Today morning I found the news in one of the biggest newspapers here, somewhere amidst other columns, in some inner page of the paper. I thought "Oh... they found it, finally". It took these many days for one major Indian newspaper to know about a new scientific achievement, which in fact is a technology breakthrough. 

Thinking of news guys getting updates, had one politician or parliamentarian sneezed hard, it'd be a front page news in papers and breaking news in channels here. It's everyday incident here that politicians speak various kinds of idiocy and try to become the "newsmaker of the year". Thinking rational, most of what they say is useless to the nation and its people but will be directly or indirectly pointing towards securing his position in the next election etc. But there are live coverage for everything they say, in all the channels in parallel, and covering the front page of the newspapers. That is because news in India means politics and parliament blabber than what happens in the world and what's important to mankind. 'NEWS' doesn't cover North East South West here, but they always loop in the 'PARL'iament and politics.

Don't know who constructed the Indian Parliament building circular - the channels and newspapers keep on looping forever since then.

How to be a successful driver in Bangalore

Tips for becoming a successful driver in Bangalore:
[Will keep on updating this post]

In Bangalore's centimeters per hour traffic, here are some tips to be successful:

1. Learn to multi-task: They say we should not do anything else while driving. Yes, we shouldn't. But in Bangalore only 30% of the total time we spend behind the steering wheel of our car is being used for controlling the vehicle moving forward. 70% of the time we'll be idling in traffic. So plan accordingly.
2. Have a 5-Dimentional mentality: 
1. Look forward to see vehicles in front stopping suddenly because of pedestrians or cows in the centre of the road
2. Look right to see vehicles jumping from right lane to left lane
3. Look left to see vehicles changing from left lane to right lane
4. Look down to see potholes
5. Look up to see signals every 200m
3. Offence is the best defence : However careful you are, at least once in two weeks you'll hit someone or will be hit by someone. There are proven methods of handling this situation. The one who argues first and raises his voice more(preferably animated) will be the verdict to come out unharmed, and in flying colours. You can even hit the other driver if you are successful in doing just this - and once started, helping hands will be joining from all the directions.

Politicians: A national asset

It's just my view: 

Indian Politicians are national assets to all of India's opponent nations. They just have to sit and watch India degrading in itself by the severity of its stupid politics, led by the selfish leaders.

Inspected with Pride

I got a new laptop bag which had a tag in it saying " Inspected with Pride". 

In fact I would prefer something to be inspected with 'care' or some feeling of that would allow make him to expect there can be mistakes in manufacture. Pride? Never.

The Highway Hit-And-Run

In Sep 2010, I was hit from behind by a car while riding my bike down the NH 49, near Kolenchery town.

I was riding smoothly at about 50 kmph from Kolenchery to Choondy, when the guy riding through the left side in front of me spotted a shop at the right side of the highway, and at once decided to have a go. He did just what an average driver in Kerala would comfortably and confidently do. He moved to the right. Seeing him, I slowed down, though not very suddenly. But the guy who held the steering of an Alto coming behind me was still in the good relaxed mood of passing the Kolenchery town to a comparatively free stretch of road, chatting with his friend on passenger seat. He just didn't know what all things were going on in front, and just kept going as usual, and hit my bike from behind. I guess it was the first time my body and bike were competing in rotary motion as well as straight line motion, both finally ending up flat on the center line of the highway at about 5.30 pm- which is about the busiest time on our roads. I, realizing the unguarded position of being at the center of the road, at once ran to the safety of the roadside, leaving my bike there.

The alto guys, when saw me standing on two legs, tried to escape from the scene quickly, literally saying "see he's fine". !!!!. In his opinion I was just fine, with my aching chest and leg when I somehow managed to stand up. When I say many of the drivers on Kerala roads are no better than criminals, most won't agree. But I leave it to you, to comment on it. This was a guy considered to be very decent in his area. Anyway, since there were some of my acquaintances there I guess, the guy had to take me to the nearby hospital, from where they escaped after paying some 200 bucks for the X-Ray and initial medications, promising me to pay for the damages on the bike. And it was the last time I saw them. I reached back to the spot on another car, and took the bike to home alone, since I was able to drive it.

Then came weeks of medications and taking rest. Bathing in some medicated water, which became black colored because of the components added in it, including pepper leaves and frankincense.

But, Thank you Jesus. For the care you had for me, and the quickest of actions at the most needed times. Any of the cars or buses or trucks on the highway could've crushed me to a lifeless collection of organs, had it not been the unconditional, ever active and ever so near love of Jesus. My God is Super!!!

Started loving some SUVs ( ssh... don't tell anyone )

Wonders always happen. When something unlikely doesn't happen, we don't even think of it. But when it happens we say " That too has happened, finally ". This is one such case.

An SUV is haunting me in my dreams for a few days now, being a strong contender for the 'dream car' position in my heart. Maybe that's because it's a Porsche. I'd like to call the Cayenne a 'big, heavy car' instead of 'an SUV' though. 

What the Cayenne started, CRV continued, and Land Rover and Q3 made to finish. Now I do love some SUVs, even though I hate most of them. 

The hype called salary hike in Indian software companies

From 1969 until 2013, India Inflation Rate averaged 7.73 Percent. Which means today's 10Rs equals last year's 9.25 Rs, and next year's 10.75 Rs.

Unfortunately, this rate is approximately equal to the annual hike we get in software companies here in India.

So from the context of a single employee, the salary he gets every time is the same as the offer he got when he started his career a fresher out of college. Modest gratuities and once in 5 yr hikes apart, this is the standard across the industry. If he wishes any more improvement in compensation, he needs to jump from one company to another, which draws an average of 30% hike. But company jumping needs some 2-3 yrs between them otherwise he's considered a 'frog' - someone who jumps too much.

For an average Indian software engineer, if he jumps once in 3 yrs with a hike of 30%, the annual hike comes around 10%. Provided he jumps at the best time - just after receiving the annual hike letter from his company. Otherwise he'll miss the hike in the previous company which is going to affect the offer from the next company. If he jumps before getting the annual hike, he'll not be considered for the appraisal cycle in the next company too, because he won't be completing the required period in the new company to be considered for the appraisal cycle.

In short, if an engineer aims at 10% hike per year, he should switch companies at least once in every 3 year - with proper planning.

This is how the attrition rate is ever-rising in software industry here. This is why the so-called brain-drain happens here. 

Back Into Biking

I'd decided not to bike in life again.

Not too good was my biking experience considering the 2-3 accidents I had,  2 of which could be fatal-the one we-my brother and I had at Munnar and the one I had at Kolenchery. God saved me from danger in both cases. While the former had been due to my mistake, the latter happened to be from others' carelessness. Anyway, I found the fact - Biking Is Dangerous - and 10 times so when you're in Kerala. My mind made calculations and work-outs this way and that way, and finally decided on quitting biking. That was about 2 years ago.

For quitting, I had to sell my bike. I tried for that. Not too late, my Honda CBF150 (the 'Unicorn') was sold, with the credit of some 68000 odd kilometers on its odo. It'd done a very good service to me, that too without demanding too much for maintenance or fuel expenses or almost any complaint at all - and what more, the depreciation was just INR 12500 for 2yrs 8 months and 68000 kilometers. That's very decent, I see. Anyway, I lost him.
And thus did I bid goodbye to biking. Or so I thought.

Facts of life nailed deep into the wheel of time hesitate to fade out by the brushing of small decisions and shallow dedication of this poor and powerless man. It was poverty - or what we call the 'lack of money' - that made me buy a bike again. I was tired of borrowing, and EMIs.

My new buy was a 1yr 9 months old Black Hero Honda Karizma ZMR-one of my dream bikes. It hd clocked just less than 8000kms, and without any accidents. Mithu and I went to see the bike at Indiranagar, Bangalore and the same day decided on buying the bike, as  it was a good deal. The next day we paid 75000 Rs and took it home. And thus starts my life on bike - again.

Money facts of life...

Money comes, money goes. Mortgages remain.

Customer satisfaction - Software Service Companies in India

Our customer likes pumpkins. So we decided to fill the new Financial Analysis application UI with pumpkins.

A few of the things which happen daily here...

. Sun rises in the East.
. Petrol price increases.
. Another central govt politician accused of Rs 2000 Cr. bribes
. 4 members in a family dies in road accident.
. CM must quit: Opposition
. Expressway a blow to the ecology: Studies
. PWD announces potholes on roads are due to rain
. Kerala minister calls opposition leader 'Hippopotamus'

Safety Begins at Home...
And Ends with Tippers :)

One Family . . Blow Horn . . One 'Chiled'

Driving in India makes a complete man. In Kerala, a perfect man.

Truly. You could learn everything if you don't mind spending a few hours regularly on Indian roads - walking or driving, or still better, riding a two wheeler. If you feel you don't have the time to do so, welcome to Kerala, for a crash course.

The faster, the better. We choose the latter.

If you want to learn what's dictatorship, watch a tipper for a while - if you can manage to. Making way for itself, respectful of no one who comes along is part of their duty.

If you haven't learned of 'hereditary dictatorship' in your political classes, watch for a private bus to pass by, followed by a Kochi city service bus. You've now learned it exempli gratia.

If you want to learn how to take chances, watch for two-wheelers here. Close your eyes if you find anyone going without a helmet. That's called 'idiocy' on wheels.

If you want to learn whatever family planning schemes India has implemented or proposed, miss no comments written behind National Permit trucks.[One Family . . Blow Horn ... One 'chiled' , We one..Stop..Ours One , We Two ..NP.. Ours Two,... ]

Don't forget to call God in emergency times, you'll be well-taught to do so, if you could read the 'Daivame...' written at least at two places on every load carrier in Kerala, including those killer tippers.

If you find it difficult to believe power 'breaks', read what's written behind mini-trucks and ambassador cars.

Interested in Romantic poetry? Watching rickshaws is your job for the day, to see what’s written on their mudflaps.

To see how bribery works and bribers don’t, just have a look at the roads in Kerala. It’s not because people not paying taxes, but the taxes we pay are going to individuals, through the government methods and institutions.

And to find how daylight robbery works, go to any petrol bunk you see around, and ask for petrol price of the day.

Sophistication Counts. Unfortunately

Maybe it's so childish or thoughtless saying it'll work, but I feel it'll. So I'm putting it out here.

2 weeks ago I read in newspapers about the fire accident in the Carlton Towers, downtown Bangalore, along with photos of people peeping out through windows, because the building was filled with smoke. They couldn't breath. Some left their lives due to suffocation, burns and some by falling on the ground. Some jumped from the 6th floor, to their death. A few of the daring among them tried to tie their shawls to the window and get down through it.

I don't know if the building had safety systems to be used in case of such emergencies. If not, why didn't they install any? that too I don't know. But I know a method, which can save many lives in such cases, which would have saved most, or almost all the lives of those died in the Carlton Towers last week. It's not costly or rare, nor is it difficult to install. No maintenance needed either. All it lacks is a bit of 'sophistication'.
They call it 'rope'.

If they had a good rope kept somewhere in all the floors, the victims could simply tie it to the window or a pillar in case of such an emergency, just as how they tied the shawl to the window, and come down through it, in case they can't use lift or staircase or any other system inside the building. Anyone can simply tie the rope on a window, and come down it. Maybe it'll hurt your palms a bit. It may make your skin a bit reddish. In my opinion, it's better than being burnt in the safety of the building.

And then, you may say it's not a good idea to come down supporting your weight by holding a rope, from maybe 4th or 6th floor. I agree. You may say, 'for us it'll be ok, but for women and the weak it'll be difficult'. But if I remember right, even women jumped straight down to the street, or tried to come down through the shawl tied to the window of the 5th floor. You know it's much easier.

It's not easy to come down through a rope from tall buildings, but then it's better than jumping down from the same, or eating smoke. I sincerely think it's a nice idea as a last resort. And I wouldn't hesitate coming down through a rope, be it from 10th floor, if the building is on fire, and there is no escape through inside the building.

I'd have kept in my cupboard a good, strong rope, had I been in any floor above 2nd. For my safety, at least, if none else agrees with me. One day or the other, we'll have to die. That's for sure, but what I feel is being burnt is not the best method for it :)

w