One lonely vacation

This goes back to 2001 when the college had given 2 weeks vacation in december. I had come back from home after taking 3 weeks holiday from college. Literally the moment I stepped into the hostel, my warden informs me that in another week we were going to have 2 weeks holiday. At first I was taking it as a joke but then again the college had decided to go ahead with the idea due to Chrismas and New Years around the corner. At this point I wanted to strangle someone with a telephone, as somebody could have informed me and I could have postponed my ticket by another 3 weeks.

The week went by in the class with the all time low attendance and then came the 2 week vacation. For the weekend I dropped by in Bangalore to check it out but then again staying 2 days in a lodge in Bangalore was enough so I headed back to the hostel. In the hostel the strength had fallen to less than 10%. All my seniors and my batchmates had left for the holidays, the only ones remaining back was me, myself and a friend. For the next 2 weeks we kept having dinner outside in the town and kept watching TV in the hostel which by the way had a really crap reception. The reception kept coming and going so if we were watching a movie chances of not seeing the climax of the movie was very high.

Christmas came and went then we waited for the New years which was really boring as we didnot do anything interesting except taking complete rest and sleep. In college there was nothing interesting to do as the facilities of internet was not available to students then. Also the library was a no entry zone for me. Unfortunately, at that time I had no computer to spend my time with.

During this time, we had some conference in the college which was being held so the campus didnot feel like a graveyard but pretty good quantity of people were around. Nothing interesting was going on atleast for us to enjoy. By the time the classes had started everyone was back busy preparing for the college fest which was to be held in mid January. That was one time I really enjoyed participating as I was able to help in organising different events.

The only main suggestion I can offer anyone is that they should keep something planned in case you do end up getting holidays, like a getaway plan to Ooty or any kind of hill station or somewhere. Another important thing is to use the internet wisely, keep in touch with people and I still hope the college can update the latest schedule of holidays and classes on the internet which can benefit hundreds of people.

Still Bangalore...

I am amazed that the craze of changing name of all the major cities to their local ones have not seized. The latest one is that of Bangalore. Intially Bombay became Mumbai, then Calcutta --> Kolkata and also Madras --> Chennai. So how could the Karnads remain back. Thus Bangalore is going to be renamed as 'Bengalooru' official from November of 2006. So looks like many other cities can follow taking this as an example. The last that I can guess is the National capital city Delhi being renamed to 'Dilli' (It's hindi version). So let's see the renaming game goes on to what level.

The other day when I and a friend were at a Juice Shop, we read a statement that really sent us rolling on the floor laughing. This statement was regarding Bangalore and here it goes: "In India people drive on the left of the road, but in Bangalore people drive on what is left of the road". I am sure many people will be able to understand this statement. The traffic in Bangalore is so much and so still that it is wiser to drive on the leftover portion.

Currently Bangalore stands with the population of 63 lakhs and still growing. Also the amount of vehicles are awsome. 23 lakh vehicles out of which 18 lakh alone belong to the 2-wheelers which by the way is a record in its own for a city to have such a high number. Apart from this 3 lakh and above belong to 4 wheelers. 90,000 Autos which by the way are slightly arrogant and also the fares are to be increased by March or April. At present people pay Rs 5/km and the revised prices are Rs 6/km. Another thing about the autos is the One and half meter and double meter charges. Auto people keep demanding for these when the timings are not correct or when they find a person helpless at a particular remote location were no other auto can be found.

Bangalore has an army of 12,000 buses run by the BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitian Transport Corporation) which cater to 70% of Bangalore population. This is one of its kind which makes profits against its counterparts running in Delhi and Mumbai. What can one say? Advertisements on these buses are also plenty. With this current statistics we know that Bangalore cannot handle the pressure but still the amount doesnot seize but instead keeps increasing.

The IT industries have stopped their growth in Bangalore and are looking for better locations for expanding. Karnataka enjoys something which no other state has, the Bio-Tech Industry which are mainly based here. Credit can be given to the traffic police for handling so much load that has been thrown on them but then again they are humans. They also make mistakes by losing temper and have made strict judgements at times. People can somethings be not friendly which leads to many road rages that happen around the city.

Political games have left this city in a very slow developing conditions that can someday paralyse this city unless priority is given to the city and the state. The future of this once beautifully known 'Garden City', 'Pensioners Paradise' and 'IT/Cyber city of India' is at stake. People have to also cooperate to make this a better city.

Justice Sys. & Punishment in India

This topic is to be highlighted and what I will say is nothing new. Everyone knows this and the amazing thing is that the Justice system in India really sucks. Cases go on for years. In India, the law courts are kept slightly different from the police so that corruption might not infiltrate it. But the funny thing is that the Police has the power to manipulate with the evidence being presented in the court and also the accused will be in their possession until presented before the court. So one can imagine the treatment given to the accused when he is with the Police. Royal treatment to those who have money and power while the one who is innocent but without any such facilities to offer can be treated to 3rd degree torture which can make any human accept any kind of accusation that he might have not committed.

This is not a fairytale story but done in reality. One such case currently being talked about is the Jessica Lal case in which their are witnesses but still after 7 years of the case being in the court, the accused have been set free. In the justice system, they say it is better to let go 100 criminals so that no innocents are sent to jail. But it is very easy to say that the vice-versa can be seen where criminals are set free while innocents are put in the jail. The justice system is really weak. Worst is the punishments that are set for criminals. For a rape or murder, the person can goto jail for anywhere between 3-14 years jail but not death sentence. Another thing is if a person is given sentence more than 7 years in a lower court then his case has to be seen by a higher court. This only invites to delay the case.

If criminals are given small punishments then it is comfortable for anyone to murder someone and make a weak case out of it. He will just get 1-2 years of jail and then be set free to do more murders. People make tens of murders before being caught or atleast being presented in the court. The system is weak at many levels which really assist the criminals. Cops are humans and their actions & reactions also are human like so they can be short-tempered, revengeful, angried, confused, changed and ofcourse manipulated.

Why is it that Human-rights organisation keep shouting about Capital punishment being wrong. It is right as long as the person who committed the crime was in his full senses and the murder was intentional. Punishments are to set example to others that if the same crime is done then the outcome is like that. It is to make people realise that crime is evil.

In a regular day life, lots of theft keep on happening as the culprits know that chances of getting caught is minimal. Even if being caught, the chances of getting tried in court is minimal. When being tried in court the case can go on for ages without any results. Also while getting tried in court, chances of getting sentenced to jail is minimal. So eventually the options are better doing some theft and living. This example is only for thieves, imagine what is the procedure for murder accused and rapists.

In India, Mahatma Gandhi's murderer was sentenced after 2 years of his crime. Also Indira Gandhi's murderers were sentenced to death after 8 years of their crime. If high profile murders can take so much time then what can one ask for the crimes committed against comman man. In rape cases, when a victim makes accusations the court and people make it feel as if it was the victims fault and not the criminals. So even if many rapes happen, only a very few are brought to notice depending on the mental strength of the victim and her families.

In my opinion, if we can clearly prove the crime committed by the criminal then there is no need to wait but execute the punishment on spot. If he commits a murder then he can be hanged/shot/killed in anyway immediately so as to set an example. Also if a rapist is proven guilty with full eveidences then he should be killed on spot by the victim so that they can respect the sanctity of women. Major changes are required to teach all the criminal kind and instill fears in the minds of the criminals for their actions so that the same action can never be performed again.

Print vs. Electronic Media

This is one of the most known topics. We have newspapers and magazines which mainly come in the print media. Newspapers have been there since centuries. All kinds of news from around the world can be seen on the newspaper. In school, the teachers use to say we should read newspapers so that our vocabulary and grammar could improve. I guess that is one way we got hooked to the newspapers. I think using the word hooked would be inappropriate as at one time in the world the print media was threatened by the amazing entry of the electronic media.

The electronic media came with the advent of Radio which was popular during the first half of the 20th century and then by Television. Currently for more than a decade the cable television has captured everyones view. We get to see more than 50 channels on TV with channels ranging from news, sports, music, family, cartoons and etc. With everything at our fingertip with remote controlled TVs and their prices coming down in the market, we choose this over print media or that is how it is supposed to be.

The funny thing is that with so much Television and Satellite relayed channels, the print media was supposed to be wiped out but still everyday in the morning, people have the habit to read newspapers. There is no loss for the print media currently as one can see people reading newspapers in traffic jams or in buses and trains. So this is one thing that stands out. Yes, I do agree that they must have been affected by the reduction in readers. But still surviving against the electronic media is amazing.

Not only this, in electronic media itself, radio was nearly wiped out from the market but still suddenly there has been a revival in that sector also with major success by the radio channels like Radio Mirchi and Radio city channels on the Radio in many metros. People listen to songs will on there way to work, in cafeterias, malls, buses etc. So due to the resurrection of some of the media types, there is a major scope in the market and predictability of the market share is really unexpected.

Anyways still people know that be it either Print or Electronic media, they will receive their share of the latest news.

Jet Lags

I was not able to put any new posts on the blog for the past few days as I have been suffering through Jet lag. It's been quite a while since I used to get up early in the mornings. So since I have started attending one of my classes at 7 am, I have to be out of bed by 6 am, so the time change has hit me for the past few days. Mostly I will recover from it by this weekend. Anyways life's going on as usual and I hope to put up couple of posts regarding some issues soon. I can also like some opinion from people about what I should write.

Post dept vs. Private Couriers

I have been going through a lot about the discussion and articles poping up on the newspaper about the above topic. Also the other day I was at the post office and whenever I drop by I know the reasons why private couriers thrive. When I was in college, I used to used the postal service pretty well as the person at the counter was friendly and the services used to be pretty good. So never felt bad about the system. But when you look into the other post offices, then there is one thing that keeps poping into anyones head, i.e. it is a government department and works literally at the snails pace and also services are poor.

The private couriers have come up to fill up that void which the Postal service created. The timely deliveries, providing guarantees, delivering when at home (as they call us earlier) and better office timings. Private couriers are also one of the best in expanding there network by spreading their collection centers around the city. So these points and some others reasons kicks the postal service off the top list.

If the private couriers can utilize and improve their services being private then how come the postal service which should be having more network due to the connection to any government department, cannot get things done faster and better. I still say that the postal service can outwit the private couriers without any blasting or destruction of the private couriers. The postal service needs some innovative thinking and then they will be able to capture the market. I still remember one case in which my friend was suppose to receive a 2 kg cake by parcel service run by the Indian Postal Department, but when he received it in 2 days time, he got only 1/2 kg cake. I am not sure whether the cake ran away on its own, or someone kept taking chunks out of it or the postal department was celebrating some party. Anyways that was the only thing needed to lift my friends impression off the postal service. Since then I have never seen him use the postal service for anything be it regular post, registered post, Speed post and definitely not the Parcel service. One can now imagine why postal department is loosing there valued customers. The others who use this service are the old veterans who still believe in the system. I just hope that postal department doesnot break their trust also.

If the Railway Ministry can pull out of losses that it had been making for past 10 years in just a year without even making fare prices increase, then I guess the postal department which is more than a century old like the railway can pull itself out of its current mess and crisis.

Do we have Cell phone Etiquette?

Mobile phones have become a real necessity for everyone currently in this world. Every person is carrying one as the prices of the phones are falling and also second hand phone prices are at disposable price. That is not only the reason for the sudden boom, it is also the telecommunication market which has made people addictive with free calls and free SMSes. These offers are to make people addictive as once removed will still make people use the facility. Not bad marketing strategy by the companies.

Now coming to the topic of etiquette or in more general sense ethics for mobile phone usage. In the West, people know how to use the mobile phone at different places as they are provided with manuals regarding ethics and generally they use common sense. Still there are cases here and there which keep on poping up. In India, we all are facing these issues in everyday life.

When someone is talking on the phone, he/she is not aware of the level of volume they are talking at. They donot realise that due to their conversation on the phone people around them are involuntarily sujected to listen, which by the way may not interest them. The most common places is ofcourse the public places like buses, bus stops, markets, elevators, queues of any kind and many more. This is one of the major problems where people have to listen to all kinds of conversations being made on the phones.

Another problem is regarding the ringtones, as the mobile phones have advanced from general ringtones to polyphonic and currently songs ringtones, so has the problems with its presence in the wrong places. Either attending a lecture in a hall or a funneral and suddenly your cell phone rings, apart from disrupting the proceedings it is a really unkind to the people around.

These are the 2 major problems that people have to work on. Every phone has been provided with different profiles so we have to learn how to use it. We have made a habit that in the morning we donot forget to take our wallet and Mobile phone along with us, similarly we have to work on the idea that before any kind of event, we use the proper profiles in place, like silent or vibrator mode.

Another major issue is the proper use of the facilities provided with the mobile phone. We have all heard of the MMS scandals and others. When will humans use technology for a better use. Now companies are asking their employees to come with a Non camera phone so that confidentality is maintained. In call center's they are asked to either keep it switched off or leave it at home when they leave for work. Even the mobile companies have started to create more advance models of phones without camera so that the corporate world can take it.

I am not suggesting that cell phones are evil, I am just saying that they are providing us with better communication with second to second update, therefore proving its worth. But it is us humans who are behind the phone making all the mistakes. If an explicit clip is made by a cell phone, then I guess it was some human who had pressed the button with that intention. The cell phone had not done that on its own.

Intially we heard about accidents which use to occur due to reckless driving as the driver was drunk or really in a hurry or ofcourse lost concentration. Now most of the accidents occur as the driver is on the phone and he has to multi-task by attending the phone call and also drive through the road. Also there was a time when people use to keep their heads tilted trying to talk on the phone by making it handfree. But now people have started buying the accesories like earphone, wireless earphones, handfree set in the car and others. Some people have made solutions by stopping the car on the side of the road so that they can attend the call and then drive. This can be taken to be atleast a more safer way than driving to your death.

I could have added this topic with the previous one about the technology, but since people are using cell phones in an everyday use, this had to be taken separately. In India, when a cell phone is purchased in the market along with the manual and accesories like battery and cover, even a book on proper phone ethics should be given. People in general should learn courtesy and respect.