was waiting for this move since months and finally watched it today morning first show at REX on brigade road.
Written a review about it here Avatar movie review too.
Its a must watch nothing else will do. The cinematic spectacle is a must experience for anyone who knows what movies are. Its a great movie to be seen in a theatre.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
School chale hum.
Remember this absolutely wonderful song? It was a regular feature on TV and radio few years back. It was about the fun of going to school and studying there. It featured schoolkids going to school along with their chums and having a blast. Running through open fields, rowing through the backwaters in kerala, braving the mountainous terrain in ladakh or just splashing their in a river, the sheer energy of the cinematography takes you to your childhood.
Anyways, the point of the blog is about teaching kids. When was the last time you taught kids? In a classroom? If you have then you might share my views on this. I got an opportunity to teach 7th standard students at a Govt. middle school in bangalore and it was a very encouraging experience.
The school in question is a middle school with classes till 7th standard only. Not to mention its a vernacular medium school. Actually, when i got an offer initially i didnt think twice before saying a 'yes'. It was later that it dawned upon me that language could be an issue since i didnt even know the most basic of Kannada, with due respect to the language of course. So the only option was to communicate in English that the kids understood. "What a solution!" you would laugh but i had no option. My enthusiasm was peaking and there was no way i was backing out of this.
I was supposed to teach few computer basics to the kids, the software part of it to be precise while venkatesh would start of with the hardware. Now learning computers hands on is the best approach; but what would you do if none of the computers in the computer lab WORK!! So venkatesh decided that we should teach theory.
Teaching theory, in theory (pun intended) sounds easy. But with the constraints enumerated earlier it was far from easy. Computers as a subject in itself has a multitude of phrases, jargon, abbreviations, concepts which need explanation as we dive into any basics. Analogies are the best way to go about teaching these thing; but then explaining the analogies itself is a cul-de-sac for a guy with limited language skills.
Anyways, the language barrier not withstanding I reached the school a bit late. The reason being I had to take a few printouts of the info we were going to hopefully teach that day. Its would be an interesting post by itself, but later. The school was an 'L' shaped 2 storey structure huddling alongside a few residential buildings and houses. Nothing extravagant at all and rightly so as it did the job perfectly fine as was evident. The far side of the L faced the entrance and had the name painted in dark blue. There was the familiar drawing of a boy and a girl sitting on a huge pencil with books in hand. Its the symbol of 'Sarva shiksha abhiyaan' the movement to educate all kids .
Any school has this feel of enthusiasm to it. I see it in every school i see. Maybe its got to do with the kids. The insatiable eagerness, carefree attitude and the drive to constantly be upto something really make me respect children. We adults quickly forget that we as children might have been something like that in our childhood too. What makes children the way they are and us the way we are? That may constitute another post altogether so let me not digress.
I was not sure whether i had reached the correct place. So i called up venkatesh. He said he was on the 1st floor and would come out on the balcony. I looked around and instantly recognised the tall frame smiling down upon me from the 1st floor balcony.
I was introduced to other two people one being ritesh, another guy interested in teaching, and Venugopal sir who brought the entire thing together. The computer lab was the place where we were supposed to take a class. I entered the lab and found around seven computers placed along the walls of that room. One of the walls was taken by the blackboard and a cabinet containing books. The rest of them were taken by drawings who jostled with switchboards for space amid crusty paint. This was manageable if not decent enough. The tough part was going to be managing the kids..
Anyways, the point of the blog is about teaching kids. When was the last time you taught kids? In a classroom? If you have then you might share my views on this. I got an opportunity to teach 7th standard students at a Govt. middle school in bangalore and it was a very encouraging experience.
The school in question is a middle school with classes till 7th standard only. Not to mention its a vernacular medium school. Actually, when i got an offer initially i didnt think twice before saying a 'yes'. It was later that it dawned upon me that language could be an issue since i didnt even know the most basic of Kannada, with due respect to the language of course. So the only option was to communicate in English that the kids understood. "What a solution!" you would laugh but i had no option. My enthusiasm was peaking and there was no way i was backing out of this.
I was supposed to teach few computer basics to the kids, the software part of it to be precise while venkatesh would start of with the hardware. Now learning computers hands on is the best approach; but what would you do if none of the computers in the computer lab WORK!! So venkatesh decided that we should teach theory.
Teaching theory, in theory (pun intended) sounds easy. But with the constraints enumerated earlier it was far from easy. Computers as a subject in itself has a multitude of phrases, jargon, abbreviations, concepts which need explanation as we dive into any basics. Analogies are the best way to go about teaching these thing; but then explaining the analogies itself is a cul-de-sac for a guy with limited language skills.
Anyways, the language barrier not withstanding I reached the school a bit late. The reason being I had to take a few printouts of the info we were going to hopefully teach that day. Its would be an interesting post by itself, but later. The school was an 'L' shaped 2 storey structure huddling alongside a few residential buildings and houses. Nothing extravagant at all and rightly so as it did the job perfectly fine as was evident. The far side of the L faced the entrance and had the name painted in dark blue. There was the familiar drawing of a boy and a girl sitting on a huge pencil with books in hand. Its the symbol of 'Sarva shiksha abhiyaan' the movement to educate all kids .
Any school has this feel of enthusiasm to it. I see it in every school i see. Maybe its got to do with the kids. The insatiable eagerness, carefree attitude and the drive to constantly be upto something really make me respect children. We adults quickly forget that we as children might have been something like that in our childhood too. What makes children the way they are and us the way we are? That may constitute another post altogether so let me not digress.
I was not sure whether i had reached the correct place. So i called up venkatesh. He said he was on the 1st floor and would come out on the balcony. I looked around and instantly recognised the tall frame smiling down upon me from the 1st floor balcony.
I was introduced to other two people one being ritesh, another guy interested in teaching, and Venugopal sir who brought the entire thing together. The computer lab was the place where we were supposed to take a class. I entered the lab and found around seven computers placed along the walls of that room. One of the walls was taken by the blackboard and a cabinet containing books. The rest of them were taken by drawings who jostled with switchboards for space amid crusty paint. This was manageable if not decent enough. The tough part was going to be managing the kids..
Sunday, November 1, 2009
mumbai bangalore volvo: travel bus timings, bus operators, bus service review
i was traveling again from bangalore to mumbai. This time though it was monsoon and by now i was quite experienced enough to book tickets and know which volvo bus operators to avoid. But my experiences were limited to ksrtc, vrl, sharma transports, neeta travels only. Then i decided to go with amchi marathi sounding travels called 'Konduskar Travels'. Earlier i used to think its must be a really good service. Did i think the same way later? read on...
The price for konduskar was marginally lower than vrl travels but higher than ksrtc as is the case most of the times. The pickup point was kalasipalyam in the heart of bangalore. The bus was due at 7pm. I had lots of luggage with me hence going back and forth through the lanes of kalasipalyam wasnt a very easy effort. In a non-descript little room near the entrance of kalasipalyam bus stand the signboard read as the one i was looking for. Heaving a sigh of relief, i seated myself in the chair.
The bus arrived, surprisingly, on time. After the sharma experience i was pleasantly surprised. Well, at least the beginning was on a good note. I entered the bus and took my window seat. The bus started in a few minutes. It was empty, most of it. But it was good to see that the seats looked decent enough to be called clean by other volvo standards. The aisle was also clean. In no time the bus was making a getaway out of bangalore via KR circle, then rajaji nagar and later yeshwantpur station.
The bus looked in good condition. You could feel the power of the B7R engine putting that awesome torque on the wheels. The sudden thrust backwards on the application of slight acceleration felt good. But then i forgot we still were in bangalore and bangalore's traffic doesn't care who is going where; it just manifests itself in almost every traffic corner or signal. Finally after getting a moveon the bus went into cruise mode. It was movie time and guess what, it was a lucky day. Not for me, but for the actors, directors and producers of the film 'jashn'. To fully comprehend why i am saying this just go and read any review. Mind you i am not asking you to watch the film cos you would sue me for the mental agony caused.
I referred to the luck part because here we were, all the passengers i mean, traveling in a bus and helpless enough to watch any movie that would be shown. And among all the movies this is the movies that is selected. Ok..it may not be the worst film ever made but you know a bad movie when you see it.
So after the movie it was dreaming time. Since the seat beside me was empty i was more than happy to sleep occupying both the seats. The ocassional bump reminded me we were still in karnataka. Nothing against the karnataka government but the guys haven't developed the northern part of karnataka as good if not better than south karnataka. The bus, or any other vehicle for that matter, comes to a grinding halt every hundred metres as the condition of the road is so bad. There are frequent detours that cause delays. hats off to the travels guys who take it in their stride.
Morning came early as we touched kolhapur at around 5:30 am itself. It was just a filling station somewhere outside of kolhapur. Elated i stepped down from the bus and took the chilly air in and felt the somewhat familiar scent of the black soil i had played in my village. Hearing the familiar village dialect instantly made me feel i am home. Even at that odd hour and half awake i thought of how language has a binding effect.
Since this was a konduskar bus it detoured and entered the city of kolhapur. It was the first time i saw, even though from the confines and comfort of the bus, the historical city of shahu maharaj. The all to familiar sight of farmers dressed in the traditional 'bandi', 'dhotar', 'pheta' leading their cattle to graze instantly made me feel warm at heart. This is what makes India what it is. Away from the blinking screens of computers in AC offices and MNC office culture was this India. The only thing that matters to this india is the rain if i can take a few liberties. Barring the government decision on the prices of foodgrains nothing interests this india more. Although i may have generalised to the point of criminal ignorance; but the fact remains it another India in contrast to the popular perception of people outside india and for some in India too.
I got time to think all this since the bus reached kolhapur bus stand at 7:00 am it didnt move till 7:45 am. No reasons given whatsoever. So the journey continued towards next destinations on the way karad and subsequently satara. They were left behind in a few hours and pune beaconed at 170 odd kms. We did reach pune at 10:30 am.
Till now everything was going to plan. I was already looking ahead at making it for lunch to mumbai when a few surprises were made known to us. The bus was not going to go all the way to mumbai. There was a change of bus in Pune and the actual bus was expected at 11am in pune. Pune at that time was in full grip of swine flu and you could see people wearing masks. I braced myself, and hoping everything would be fine sat at the bus operators office waiting for the bus.
The bus arranged was a Neeta Volvo and by the looks of it, had taken part in the vietnam war. The front mirrors were broken, the color had worn off, the window sealings were hanging about. On entering it was a similar sight too. torn seat covers, broken seat arm rests, filthy seats and cracked windows. Me along with three others from the earlier bus cursed our luck and hoped this piece of junk makes it to mumbai.
Although the bus was almost full, the bus operators are dedicated to making use of the last available inch in the bus and to do it they have a simple formula. just wait for the customer till he arrives. Meandering through the streets of Pune was all the bus did for the next hour and a half. Finally i saw a semblance of NH4 and heaved a sigh of relief. We were back on track finally!
The journey here onwards was made somewhat bearable by the scenic locations that whizzed past. Monsoon is a great time to see get some nice pics. Especially in the ghats. I have tried taking a few here, hope you like them.
The picture on the left is the place near kolhapur where we stopped for breakfast. It was here that i had 'pohe'.
One of the better shots i took on my mobile camera on NH4. I agree a better camera is needed to do justice to the shot.
The green scenes are only during monsoons. Its a torrid sun the rest of the time.
The mud splattered on the window of the volvo.
The express way : lonavala
This bill board shouldnt have been there.
Great valley view.
really nice pic. Small tea stall right on the edge of the cliff.
few people enjoying the view or cuppa tea?
The winding way up the ghat.
The bus reached panvel at around 1:30 pm and vashi at sometime later.
The price for konduskar was marginally lower than vrl travels but higher than ksrtc as is the case most of the times. The pickup point was kalasipalyam in the heart of bangalore. The bus was due at 7pm. I had lots of luggage with me hence going back and forth through the lanes of kalasipalyam wasnt a very easy effort. In a non-descript little room near the entrance of kalasipalyam bus stand the signboard read as the one i was looking for. Heaving a sigh of relief, i seated myself in the chair.
The bus arrived, surprisingly, on time. After the sharma experience i was pleasantly surprised. Well, at least the beginning was on a good note. I entered the bus and took my window seat. The bus started in a few minutes. It was empty, most of it. But it was good to see that the seats looked decent enough to be called clean by other volvo standards. The aisle was also clean. In no time the bus was making a getaway out of bangalore via KR circle, then rajaji nagar and later yeshwantpur station.
The bus looked in good condition. You could feel the power of the B7R engine putting that awesome torque on the wheels. The sudden thrust backwards on the application of slight acceleration felt good. But then i forgot we still were in bangalore and bangalore's traffic doesn't care who is going where; it just manifests itself in almost every traffic corner or signal. Finally after getting a moveon the bus went into cruise mode. It was movie time and guess what, it was a lucky day. Not for me, but for the actors, directors and producers of the film 'jashn'. To fully comprehend why i am saying this just go and read any review. Mind you i am not asking you to watch the film cos you would sue me for the mental agony caused.
I referred to the luck part because here we were, all the passengers i mean, traveling in a bus and helpless enough to watch any movie that would be shown. And among all the movies this is the movies that is selected. Ok..it may not be the worst film ever made but you know a bad movie when you see it.
So after the movie it was dreaming time. Since the seat beside me was empty i was more than happy to sleep occupying both the seats. The ocassional bump reminded me we were still in karnataka. Nothing against the karnataka government but the guys haven't developed the northern part of karnataka as good if not better than south karnataka. The bus, or any other vehicle for that matter, comes to a grinding halt every hundred metres as the condition of the road is so bad. There are frequent detours that cause delays. hats off to the travels guys who take it in their stride.
Morning came early as we touched kolhapur at around 5:30 am itself. It was just a filling station somewhere outside of kolhapur. Elated i stepped down from the bus and took the chilly air in and felt the somewhat familiar scent of the black soil i had played in my village. Hearing the familiar village dialect instantly made me feel i am home. Even at that odd hour and half awake i thought of how language has a binding effect.
Since this was a konduskar bus it detoured and entered the city of kolhapur. It was the first time i saw, even though from the confines and comfort of the bus, the historical city of shahu maharaj. The all to familiar sight of farmers dressed in the traditional 'bandi', 'dhotar', 'pheta' leading their cattle to graze instantly made me feel warm at heart. This is what makes India what it is. Away from the blinking screens of computers in AC offices and MNC office culture was this India. The only thing that matters to this india is the rain if i can take a few liberties. Barring the government decision on the prices of foodgrains nothing interests this india more. Although i may have generalised to the point of criminal ignorance; but the fact remains it another India in contrast to the popular perception of people outside india and for some in India too.
I got time to think all this since the bus reached kolhapur bus stand at 7:00 am it didnt move till 7:45 am. No reasons given whatsoever. So the journey continued towards next destinations on the way karad and subsequently satara. They were left behind in a few hours and pune beaconed at 170 odd kms. We did reach pune at 10:30 am.
Till now everything was going to plan. I was already looking ahead at making it for lunch to mumbai when a few surprises were made known to us. The bus was not going to go all the way to mumbai. There was a change of bus in Pune and the actual bus was expected at 11am in pune. Pune at that time was in full grip of swine flu and you could see people wearing masks. I braced myself, and hoping everything would be fine sat at the bus operators office waiting for the bus.
The bus arranged was a Neeta Volvo and by the looks of it, had taken part in the vietnam war. The front mirrors were broken, the color had worn off, the window sealings were hanging about. On entering it was a similar sight too. torn seat covers, broken seat arm rests, filthy seats and cracked windows. Me along with three others from the earlier bus cursed our luck and hoped this piece of junk makes it to mumbai.
Although the bus was almost full, the bus operators are dedicated to making use of the last available inch in the bus and to do it they have a simple formula. just wait for the customer till he arrives. Meandering through the streets of Pune was all the bus did for the next hour and a half. Finally i saw a semblance of NH4 and heaved a sigh of relief. We were back on track finally!
The picture on the left is the place near kolhapur where we stopped for breakfast. It was here that i had 'pohe'.
One of the better shots i took on my mobile camera on NH4. I agree a better camera is needed to do justice to the shot.
Great valley view.
The bus reached panvel at around 1:30 pm and vashi at sometime later.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
volvo online tickets booking bangalore mumbai travel ksrtc private travels
There are many options to buy tickets cheaply. If you are the kind who saves every penny then nothing like some research on the internet. Here are a few helpful sites to buy tickets.
Cheap tickets / Discounts: Ksrtc easily beats other travels in the ticket pricing. Considering the condition of the buses, the punctuality, the staff, the cleanliness the ticket price is really a bargain. ksrtc offers a 10% discount if you book two way journey ticket at the same time. Here is the ticket price breakup for one way.
Basic Fare : Rs. 1060.00
Insurance Fee : Rs. 3.00
Infrastructure Fee : Rs. 10.00
Reservation Fee : Rs. 10.00
User Fee : Rs. 17.00
Service Fee : Rs. 28.00
--------------------------------
Total Fare : Rs. 1128
Booking through Phone facility : Not available.
Homedelivery of tickets in Bangalore : Not available.
Other Benefits : You can travel in the city (bmtc) buses to the place of the bus boarding point from 2 hours before the departure of the bus.
Redbus.in is another decent site to book tickets online. One of the most comprehensive travel operator listings available (around 500). 5000+ route bookings possible. multi mode of ticket booking available.
You can book tickets using the online ticket reservation system itself or,
use phone to book the tickets and pay on delivery. Works out really well. I have used their services on a couple of occasion and haven't been disappointed.
Cheap Tickets / Discounts redbus.in : the ticket prices are including the commission that redbus might be charging the tour operators for listing their services or vice versa. but the price seems very reasonable.
Booking through phone facility : One of the best facilities to book through the phone. You just tell your destination and type of bus you are looking for and you are done. The booking officer gives you the options and seats available and you can choose as per your wish. the ticket amount is paid on delivery of the tickets only. So no hassles like double transactions faced here plus you get a confirmed ticket. I have seen cases where ksrtc has overbooked their bangalore mumbai volvo with people in pune getting affected cos their seat was again booked in mumbai.
Home delivery of tickets in bangalore : redbus.in provides home delivery facility for tickets booked. There is marginal amount charged for the delivery but its justified for the convenience.
Other benefits : You get to read user reviews for the bus that you want to book the ticket for. This really helps you to make in informed decision before you spend your money. I have seen negative feedback been published as well so there is scope for user feedback being genuine.
Ksrtc.in
: The official site of the karnataka state transport corporation. The ksrtc bus tickets can be bought from the majestic (kempegowda bus stand) bus stand itself. But with online ticket booking being so convenient the ksrtc has provided facility to book ksrtc bus tickets online. I primarily use this site to book the ksrtc volvo bus tickets from bangalore to mumbai.Cheap tickets / Discounts: Ksrtc easily beats other travels in the ticket pricing. Considering the condition of the buses, the punctuality, the staff, the cleanliness the ticket price is really a bargain. ksrtc offers a 10% discount if you book two way journey ticket at the same time. Here is the ticket price breakup for one way.
Basic Fare : Rs. 1060.00
Insurance Fee : Rs. 3.00
Infrastructure Fee : Rs. 10.00
Reservation Fee : Rs. 10.00
User Fee : Rs. 17.00
Service Fee : Rs. 28.00
--------------------------------
Total Fare : Rs. 1128
Booking through Phone facility : Not available.
Homedelivery of tickets in Bangalore : Not available.
Other Benefits : You can travel in the city (bmtc) buses to the place of the bus boarding point from 2 hours before the departure of the bus.
Redbus.in
:Redbus.in is another decent site to book tickets online. One of the most comprehensive travel operator listings available (around 500). 5000+ route bookings possible. multi mode of ticket booking available.
You can book tickets using the online ticket reservation system itself or,
use phone to book the tickets and pay on delivery. Works out really well. I have used their services on a couple of occasion and haven't been disappointed.
Cheap Tickets / Discounts redbus.in : the ticket prices are including the commission that redbus might be charging the tour operators for listing their services or vice versa. but the price seems very reasonable.
Booking through phone facility : One of the best facilities to book through the phone. You just tell your destination and type of bus you are looking for and you are done. The booking officer gives you the options and seats available and you can choose as per your wish. the ticket amount is paid on delivery of the tickets only. So no hassles like double transactions faced here plus you get a confirmed ticket. I have seen cases where ksrtc has overbooked their bangalore mumbai volvo with people in pune getting affected cos their seat was again booked in mumbai.
Home delivery of tickets in bangalore : redbus.in provides home delivery facility for tickets booked. There is marginal amount charged for the delivery but its justified for the convenience.
Other benefits : You get to read user reviews for the bus that you want to book the ticket for. This really helps you to make in informed decision before you spend your money. I have seen negative feedback been published as well so there is scope for user feedback being genuine.
yatra.com
another huge travel site. it offers some decent offers for traveling via air etc. the main benefits are availability of a large number of options for traveling between any two cities. Air, rail, road etc. you can earn yatra miles for being a regular traveler just like the air miles you earn for traveling by an airline.makemytrip.com
More coming soon.cleartrip.com
More coming soon.Sunday, September 20, 2009
volvo travel experience mumbai to bangalore:sharma transports
it was april and i was desperately looking to go back to mumbai for a well deserved break. Finally i got what i was looking for, a leave for around 8 days with 3 days working from home. hmm..3 days shouldn't be big deal. now for the difficult part of actually booking a ticket. I opened the ksrtc site no seats available in the evening on that day. So tried redbus.in.
Redbus.in is a pretty decent site with decent quality. I have used them on two different occasions and haven't been disappointed. Anyways, back to the topic. All the usual transports were there VRL, Sharma, National, Konduskar etc. I zeroed in on Sharma as i had tried KSRTC and VRL and liked them both. I wanted to try a different travel just to know the difference. Now, sharma operates Volvos and Multi-axls mercedes buses to mumbai. This time though i became a bit too adventerous and booked a non-AC semi sleeper bus to mumbai. I assumed it would be a stripped down version of the volvo. to know the rest read on and be enlightened.
The bus was supposed to leave at 8pm from the sharma transports office in kalasipalyam. I reached there pretty much in time. My first impression was this should be a well planned transport as the office looked much better off than the rest of the travels' offices. there were a number of rows of seats for waiting passengers. I was pleasantly surprised.
The bus arrived almost on time. The usually scurrying happened to enter the bus. The bus looked promising on the outside. Inspired somewhat by the volvo though. but, who cares. The make of the particular model read 'Sutlej 8000'. Whatever the 8000 meant i hoped it flew as good as the volvo if not better. My assumption was the less money meant that just the AC was absent with everything else being the same(As you would know later , dont assume too many things).
It started sometime later but was of no use as the entire kalasipalyam road was in a mess of traffic. It took some time to get out of there to land up in traffic somewhere else. Things had got off to a bad start. The optimist in me quipped, with the law of averages the rest of the journey should be smooth.
It took 10:30 pm to reach around Yeshwantpur station. My stomach was giving me a unger alert. It wondered where dinner might be cos normally its well outside the city that the buses stop at roadside dhabas. I consoled my pensive stomach to hold for few more minutes reminding it of the sumptous meal at the next tarry point.
soon it was 11pm and most of the people were looking at their watches with questioning glances. The driver wasnt oblivious to this fact either but his standard response was the stopover isn't far. Finally, we reached the dhaba at around 12:30. Unbelievable i thought. The part of my brain which deals with bad decisions was trying to convince me saying its a one off situation. In any case, whether i had taken some other bus i would still have been here. Didn't work at all.
Hunger pangs had completely taken over me. I took some meal and settled down again expecting atleast two things. one, early deliverance and two, satisfactory sleep. It helped that the seats were wider than those in the volvo. Plus, the seating arrangement was 2+1 which actally allowed one to fold the feet 'indian style' and sit.
One thing bugged me right from the time the bus hit the free road. Somehow, it didn't have the same bite as the volvo. A bit too much to expect i thought but then the realization hit me about the total journey time. it would now take much longer compared to the volvo. An unsettling feeling to say the least.
to add to that unsettling feeling was the kind of movies that were being played. Emraan hashmi is certainly not my cuppa tea. And getting to watch 3 emraan movies back to back is something of an achievement. In any other setting i could have walked out of the situation unable to bear the drama(torture was my first option), but i was traveling here so that option was unavailable.
At around 8 we reached kolhapur. Whew! finally in marathi land. But the journey was taking 'Homeric' proportions. I bet 'jason' (ref. Greek mythology Jason and the Golden Fleece) would have abandoned his quest if he was traveling with me. The bus was unable to cruise at all. The accelerator seemed to be touching the bottom and still the grunting of the engine was the only thing that increased. No cruising speed at all.
My dunce feeling was at an all time high. With no respite from the emraan mania i thought of ignoring it completely and enjoying the countryside. Believe me, April is not the month you would want to enjoy the countryside. Especially maharashtra. Its summer time and you would be greeted with a torrid sun greeting you the whole day.
After a quick lunch and couple of hours later it was still Pune. The watch said 3pm and i was doing my math of what time to tell i would be reaching home. After the last days and nights experience i thought 7 should be a conservative estimate.
I called up my folks and told them i would be in time for some pre-dinner snacks. I had already got a dressing down in the morning when i told i hadn't taken a volvo so this time there wasnt much they could add to the abuse.
My restlessness continued till we reached lonavala and the moment i saw the expressway i told myself, this gonna get over soon. I profusely thanked the government which built the expressway and settled down thinking of the next few days along with 'aai', 'papa' and not to forget 'bob' (not my dog).
It probably was one of the better moments of my life when i actually liked leaving something behind. It was the bus this time. It read 6:30pm in my watch and i didnt even want to see where it went after vashi. I headed towards the bus terminal at a speed which seemed much faster than the bus i had left behind...
Disclaimer:
(This is my personal experience with the mentioned travel). Opinions might differ from person to person.
Redbus.in is a pretty decent site with decent quality. I have used them on two different occasions and haven't been disappointed. Anyways, back to the topic. All the usual transports were there VRL, Sharma, National, Konduskar etc. I zeroed in on Sharma as i had tried KSRTC and VRL and liked them both. I wanted to try a different travel just to know the difference. Now, sharma operates Volvos and Multi-axls mercedes buses to mumbai. This time though i became a bit too adventerous and booked a non-AC semi sleeper bus to mumbai. I assumed it would be a stripped down version of the volvo. to know the rest read on and be enlightened.
The bus was supposed to leave at 8pm from the sharma transports office in kalasipalyam. I reached there pretty much in time. My first impression was this should be a well planned transport as the office looked much better off than the rest of the travels' offices. there were a number of rows of seats for waiting passengers. I was pleasantly surprised.
The bus arrived almost on time. The usually scurrying happened to enter the bus. The bus looked promising on the outside. Inspired somewhat by the volvo though. but, who cares. The make of the particular model read 'Sutlej 8000'. Whatever the 8000 meant i hoped it flew as good as the volvo if not better. My assumption was the less money meant that just the AC was absent with everything else being the same(As you would know later , dont assume too many things).
It started sometime later but was of no use as the entire kalasipalyam road was in a mess of traffic. It took some time to get out of there to land up in traffic somewhere else. Things had got off to a bad start. The optimist in me quipped, with the law of averages the rest of the journey should be smooth.
It took 10:30 pm to reach around Yeshwantpur station. My stomach was giving me a unger alert. It wondered where dinner might be cos normally its well outside the city that the buses stop at roadside dhabas. I consoled my pensive stomach to hold for few more minutes reminding it of the sumptous meal at the next tarry point.
soon it was 11pm and most of the people were looking at their watches with questioning glances. The driver wasnt oblivious to this fact either but his standard response was the stopover isn't far. Finally, we reached the dhaba at around 12:30. Unbelievable i thought. The part of my brain which deals with bad decisions was trying to convince me saying its a one off situation. In any case, whether i had taken some other bus i would still have been here. Didn't work at all.
Hunger pangs had completely taken over me. I took some meal and settled down again expecting atleast two things. one, early deliverance and two, satisfactory sleep. It helped that the seats were wider than those in the volvo. Plus, the seating arrangement was 2+1 which actally allowed one to fold the feet 'indian style' and sit.
One thing bugged me right from the time the bus hit the free road. Somehow, it didn't have the same bite as the volvo. A bit too much to expect i thought but then the realization hit me about the total journey time. it would now take much longer compared to the volvo. An unsettling feeling to say the least.
to add to that unsettling feeling was the kind of movies that were being played. Emraan hashmi is certainly not my cuppa tea. And getting to watch 3 emraan movies back to back is something of an achievement. In any other setting i could have walked out of the situation unable to bear the drama(torture was my first option), but i was traveling here so that option was unavailable.
At around 8 we reached kolhapur. Whew! finally in marathi land. But the journey was taking 'Homeric' proportions. I bet 'jason' (ref. Greek mythology Jason and the Golden Fleece) would have abandoned his quest if he was traveling with me. The bus was unable to cruise at all. The accelerator seemed to be touching the bottom and still the grunting of the engine was the only thing that increased. No cruising speed at all.
My dunce feeling was at an all time high. With no respite from the emraan mania i thought of ignoring it completely and enjoying the countryside. Believe me, April is not the month you would want to enjoy the countryside. Especially maharashtra. Its summer time and you would be greeted with a torrid sun greeting you the whole day.
After a quick lunch and couple of hours later it was still Pune. The watch said 3pm and i was doing my math of what time to tell i would be reaching home. After the last days and nights experience i thought 7 should be a conservative estimate.
I called up my folks and told them i would be in time for some pre-dinner snacks. I had already got a dressing down in the morning when i told i hadn't taken a volvo so this time there wasnt much they could add to the abuse.
My restlessness continued till we reached lonavala and the moment i saw the expressway i told myself, this gonna get over soon. I profusely thanked the government which built the expressway and settled down thinking of the next few days along with 'aai', 'papa' and not to forget 'bob' (not my dog).
It probably was one of the better moments of my life when i actually liked leaving something behind. It was the bus this time. It read 6:30pm in my watch and i didnt even want to see where it went after vashi. I headed towards the bus terminal at a speed which seemed much faster than the bus i had left behind...
Disclaimer:
(This is my personal experience with the mentioned travel). Opinions might differ from person to person.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
War at paintball arena in bangalore!
This is again an anachronistic post. I dont remember for sure the date on which we went paintballing. It could have been sometime around December, but it sure was fun. For me at least. I had taken part in a paintball competition about a year back in 2007 Dec in the club cabana near hebbal, on the outskirts of bangalore. With that experience in hand i thought it shall be fun to walk in the paintball arena once again with my colleagues and managers (how many of us would want to miss out on a chance to have a go at them :)).
The paintball arena was on banergetta road 7 kms ahead of IIM Bangalore. We were 15 of us. so the teams were divided in to 2 with 7 and 8 members respectively. I found myself in the numerically weaker team. But there was enough enthusiasm among us to convince that numbers dont matter once inside the arena. Tough talk that. I guess the excitement that we were holding guns with paint balls inside them didnt excite as much as the feeling of power that we can cause pain to someone with those paintballs. I had seen paint balls fly at some speed and hit with some sting. In the worst case it would cause a black spot the next day. Not a good idea if you are not wearing the correct safety equipment.
The safety equipment looked stuff more out of star wars. There was a darth vader type face mask to avoid injury to the eyes, a vest to protect the back and upper half of the body with a pouch for the paintballs. looked really cool and once we wore it no one could stop posing for the digi cams. The interesting thing was we couldnt recognize anyone with all that gear. We realized we had distinct color vests that showed our allegiance with a particular team. I was with the green team while the opposition team was red. With the final instructions about the gun operations given it was time for WAR.
The arena was a huge rectangular one with bunkers of varying size being placed in random order over the map. This was a huge difference from the normal arenas i saw in films and had played earlier. There was plenty of scope for moving around bunkers and no one had to jostle to find a bunker for himself. This was also a concern as the enemy could attack from anywhere as there was ample cover for him. Also, since this was a death match we werent sure whether we should attack completely by moving towards the enemy or stay back and consolidate our positions while waiting for the suckers.
The strategy we adopted meant that two people would be attackers on each flank, i.e left and right. that left three people to guard the main bunker in our territory. It looked quite a good strategy in theory. unfortunately it remained exactly that. Either we were too complacent or the opposing dudes were too good. I was one of the defenders and in no time i found the enemy at us from the left flank. I wondered what happened to our guys on the left. Suddenly there were two guys shooting at me. I tried to escape the volley of paintballs but one paintball got me on the hand. I was out! I couldnt believe that i was the first one out. and the game had just started. what a shame. all the things i had thought of doing melted away. I was standing alone outside watching the other guys having a go at each other. I was cursing myself for getting out in such a way. I was determined not go down without a fight if there was a second game.
It later turned out it was my manager who had knocked my out of the game. I liked the guy to be honest but the time for niceties had passed. I hoped i got another chance to atleast not have a forgettable outing. I was fortunate that day it seems for there was going to be another game. I saw my team getting beaten like retards did. I really wanted to score some points for my team. and so began the unforgettable half of the evening, the capture the flag part.
catch the next part in the next post here.
The paintball arena was on banergetta road 7 kms ahead of IIM Bangalore. We were 15 of us. so the teams were divided in to 2 with 7 and 8 members respectively. I found myself in the numerically weaker team. But there was enough enthusiasm among us to convince that numbers dont matter once inside the arena. Tough talk that. I guess the excitement that we were holding guns with paint balls inside them didnt excite as much as the feeling of power that we can cause pain to someone with those paintballs. I had seen paint balls fly at some speed and hit with some sting. In the worst case it would cause a black spot the next day. Not a good idea if you are not wearing the correct safety equipment.
The safety equipment looked stuff more out of star wars. There was a darth vader type face mask to avoid injury to the eyes, a vest to protect the back and upper half of the body with a pouch for the paintballs. looked really cool and once we wore it no one could stop posing for the digi cams. The interesting thing was we couldnt recognize anyone with all that gear. We realized we had distinct color vests that showed our allegiance with a particular team. I was with the green team while the opposition team was red. With the final instructions about the gun operations given it was time for WAR.
The Death match
The first game was decided to be the death match. This format was the simplest therefore chosen as the best option for the beginners. It involved shooting at sight anyone from the opposing team, which meant more target practice and no strategy crap!!The arena was a huge rectangular one with bunkers of varying size being placed in random order over the map. This was a huge difference from the normal arenas i saw in films and had played earlier. There was plenty of scope for moving around bunkers and no one had to jostle to find a bunker for himself. This was also a concern as the enemy could attack from anywhere as there was ample cover for him. Also, since this was a death match we werent sure whether we should attack completely by moving towards the enemy or stay back and consolidate our positions while waiting for the suckers.
The strategy we adopted meant that two people would be attackers on each flank, i.e left and right. that left three people to guard the main bunker in our territory. It looked quite a good strategy in theory. unfortunately it remained exactly that. Either we were too complacent or the opposing dudes were too good. I was one of the defenders and in no time i found the enemy at us from the left flank. I wondered what happened to our guys on the left. Suddenly there were two guys shooting at me. I tried to escape the volley of paintballs but one paintball got me on the hand. I was out! I couldnt believe that i was the first one out. and the game had just started. what a shame. all the things i had thought of doing melted away. I was standing alone outside watching the other guys having a go at each other. I was cursing myself for getting out in such a way. I was determined not go down without a fight if there was a second game.
It later turned out it was my manager who had knocked my out of the game. I liked the guy to be honest but the time for niceties had passed. I hoped i got another chance to atleast not have a forgettable outing. I was fortunate that day it seems for there was going to be another game. I saw my team getting beaten like retards did. I really wanted to score some points for my team. and so began the unforgettable half of the evening, the capture the flag part.
catch the next part in the next post here.
Monday, June 1, 2009
mumbai to bangalore travel in a volvo.
I cant believe its more than 6 months that i updated my blog. Billionth voice that is. Lots of things have happened in the sabbatical. Not all great or worth mentioning.
So where was i during the year end?
Well i was back in aachi mumbai enjoying with namma parents. Its always a special feeling to be somewhere you feel like you are the king.
It was the first time i was traveling from bangalore to mumbai in a volvo. No more sponsored flights for me. (All good things come to an end. so they say.)
I had booked VRL volvo around 8pm. I tried to book a thursday evening bus but there was no availability. Finally i got a vrl booking for friday evening. I reached kalasipalya after a taking a bus from tippasandra to corporation and from thereon by an auto.
The autowalla was at his arrogant best. He didnt start the meter when i got in and when i insisted he asked for 10 rs more. I immediately asked him to stop and got out of the auto. Then i had to listen to a flurry of excuses on how its very reasonable. When i had nothing of it and started to leave he held my hand and told me to get back in the auto agreeing to go by the meter.
I got back since i didnt know the way and could have needed directions from him later. As it turned out i later paid him 10 extra as i again was too lazy to haggle and more anxious to reach on time.
I reached the VRL office on time. The bus came almost on time too. (Till now i have travelled by VRL,sharma,KSRTC and found that VRL,KSRTC are on par and quite decent.)
The bus started and in no time we were stuck in the famous bengaluru traffic.
It took 10:30pm to really get a move on. Akshay's "singh is king" was blaring away on the tv which i tried to avoid.
It felt great watching the lights zoom by sitting by the window seat on the last seat. Last row is never a nice place to sit especially on a long journey, but it didnt bother me much as i was going to mumbai. I was already thinking abt when i would reach and what i would be doing. the comfort of traveling in a volvo is unparalleled on road. Not only it glides on the road, you dont feel the travel fatigue like in the other modes of transport.
One thing i noticed was the roads in karnataka were pretty much under construction. many times the bus had to use a diversion which caused a lot of time wastage especially because the volvo normally travels at around 120 kmph on the highways. So we reached the border at around 6 am and then it was a smooth sailing through maharashtra. the roads looked impeccably maintained. the administration or msrdc deserves a mention in this regard.
Then it was kolhapur, karad, satara behind us in no time and pune was beaconing with time to go for 10 am. Pune was kind of a maze since the bus kept going round and round and we became more anxious as to when we were finally going to hit the well known Mumbai-Pune expressway. At long last we saw the last of Pune and the express way greeted us with the multilane roads and zooming cars.
One thing i have to agree that the expressway has made travel a lot more safer. I still remember as a kid how terrified i was to see the depths of the khandala, lonavala ghats. I used to hope i can get to the other side. But what it also has done is that you miss the scenery you get to see otherwise, going thru the dense forest of lonavala. Pleasant, serene sights beacon you onwards along the treacherous and twisting roads. A solitary drivers moment of serenity i should say. Especially in the monsoon, its a total joy traveling by the old road. you can see people who have stopped by the wayside to enjoy the bountiful nature sipping away at a super hot cup of tea while its raining like it can only in the western ghats.
the bus sped on the express way like in a race, easily overtaking other vehicles. felt kinda nice. In no time were we on the outskirts of a well populated suburb of Navi Mumbai known as panvel. the density of population was just a reminder that i was entering a city. Even here the highrises easily outnumbered the apartments i see in bangalore.
It was around 1 pm and the bus entered the main town of vashi and it was supposed to be my alighting point. I managed to get down from the bus, still trying to come to terms with the sudden loss of momentum while in the bus.
I trudged along the dusty main road and reached till the imposing structure that the Vashi station was. It also happens to be the bus stand for traveling to the yonder suburbs of navi mumbai. I reached home by 2:30 where mom had expected me to arrive by plane the same morning! (I attributed my travel in a bus to recession :P)
Though i have traveled by plane almost 15-16 times, the novelty factor remains. Not to mention the time saved is truly invaluable. add to that the comfortable journey.
Still volvo experience comes close to it if not same. If only volvos could fly! :)
So where was i during the year end?
Well i was back in aachi mumbai enjoying with namma parents. Its always a special feeling to be somewhere you feel like you are the king.
It was the first time i was traveling from bangalore to mumbai in a volvo. No more sponsored flights for me. (All good things come to an end. so they say.)
I had booked VRL volvo around 8pm. I tried to book a thursday evening bus but there was no availability. Finally i got a vrl booking for friday evening. I reached kalasipalya after a taking a bus from tippasandra to corporation and from thereon by an auto.
The autowalla was at his arrogant best. He didnt start the meter when i got in and when i insisted he asked for 10 rs more. I immediately asked him to stop and got out of the auto. Then i had to listen to a flurry of excuses on how its very reasonable. When i had nothing of it and started to leave he held my hand and told me to get back in the auto agreeing to go by the meter.
I got back since i didnt know the way and could have needed directions from him later. As it turned out i later paid him 10 extra as i again was too lazy to haggle and more anxious to reach on time.
I reached the VRL office on time. The bus came almost on time too. (Till now i have travelled by VRL,sharma,KSRTC and found that VRL,KSRTC are on par and quite decent.)
The bus started and in no time we were stuck in the famous bengaluru traffic.
It took 10:30pm to really get a move on. Akshay's "singh is king" was blaring away on the tv which i tried to avoid.
It felt great watching the lights zoom by sitting by the window seat on the last seat. Last row is never a nice place to sit especially on a long journey, but it didnt bother me much as i was going to mumbai. I was already thinking abt when i would reach and what i would be doing. the comfort of traveling in a volvo is unparalleled on road. Not only it glides on the road, you dont feel the travel fatigue like in the other modes of transport.
One thing i noticed was the roads in karnataka were pretty much under construction. many times the bus had to use a diversion which caused a lot of time wastage especially because the volvo normally travels at around 120 kmph on the highways. So we reached the border at around 6 am and then it was a smooth sailing through maharashtra. the roads looked impeccably maintained. the administration or msrdc deserves a mention in this regard.
Then it was kolhapur, karad, satara behind us in no time and pune was beaconing with time to go for 10 am. Pune was kind of a maze since the bus kept going round and round and we became more anxious as to when we were finally going to hit the well known Mumbai-Pune expressway. At long last we saw the last of Pune and the express way greeted us with the multilane roads and zooming cars.
One thing i have to agree that the expressway has made travel a lot more safer. I still remember as a kid how terrified i was to see the depths of the khandala, lonavala ghats. I used to hope i can get to the other side. But what it also has done is that you miss the scenery you get to see otherwise, going thru the dense forest of lonavala. Pleasant, serene sights beacon you onwards along the treacherous and twisting roads. A solitary drivers moment of serenity i should say. Especially in the monsoon, its a total joy traveling by the old road. you can see people who have stopped by the wayside to enjoy the bountiful nature sipping away at a super hot cup of tea while its raining like it can only in the western ghats.
the bus sped on the express way like in a race, easily overtaking other vehicles. felt kinda nice. In no time were we on the outskirts of a well populated suburb of Navi Mumbai known as panvel. the density of population was just a reminder that i was entering a city. Even here the highrises easily outnumbered the apartments i see in bangalore.
It was around 1 pm and the bus entered the main town of vashi and it was supposed to be my alighting point. I managed to get down from the bus, still trying to come to terms with the sudden loss of momentum while in the bus.
I trudged along the dusty main road and reached till the imposing structure that the Vashi station was. It also happens to be the bus stand for traveling to the yonder suburbs of navi mumbai. I reached home by 2:30 where mom had expected me to arrive by plane the same morning! (I attributed my travel in a bus to recession :P)
Though i have traveled by plane almost 15-16 times, the novelty factor remains. Not to mention the time saved is truly invaluable. add to that the comfortable journey.
Still volvo experience comes close to it if not same. If only volvos could fly! :)
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