The Black friday Sagas

After a long break, here i am. My dearly blog, the mirror to my thoughts, the archive of all my memoirs, i know you had been craving for some activity for a long time now. I guess its time i have something to put up on your wall. This time its a whole new place, a whole new experience, across the seas, down the horizon.

November of 2012, here i was 9000 miles away from my home at the land of America, in the mission to academic pursuit, a rough journey that eventually got on to smooth sail once i landed in the university. Here i was at Iowa State. The University has a degree program across all spheres of life and studies. From insectary to genetics, from Aerospace to Zoology , there are competitive programs on offer. Thus roughly 32,000 students call this place their home. From a beautiful campus to a cheerful crowd, you name it and we have it.

Situated in a modest University town called Ames, Iowa, The Iowa State University is certainly  one of the best universities in the mid west and the charm of the state of Iowa. The first semester back to college, i may have not forayed back into the academic life in the best possible way but yes, surely i am getting better and better by the day. Given the courses of such demanding nature, the commitment it requires is enormous.

Now that was a small glimpse into what happened earlier this year. let me quickly jump into what i am here to do, talk about my first Thanksgiving at USA. Way back in India, i did hear a lot about the Thanksgiving season, the essence of it, what it means to people who wish to buy new things for themselves and their family.Having not had a chance to see wonderful time of the year earlier, i didnt pin much hopes on thanksgiving  and what price cuts it brought. But gradually as the day arrived, i was indeed overwhelmed to see shops raining discounts on their websites. Well at first the discounts didn't seem all that huge, but eventually as the black friday arrived, i had a considerable number of hot favourites to choose from, but with a pocket not so deep to accomodate them all.

I don't quite know about clothing and other accessories, but prices of electronics that i am interested in certainly needs a mention. Finally after much deliberation, i was firmly decided on buying a laptop, a watch immediately and a mobile phone may be at a later date. Other tempations like the Camera , etc were promptly put off for the next season. Having too many options at my finger tips, i wasn't really decided which would be the best place to buy the laptop and thus had been procastinating placing an online order. But much to my bad luck, before i realized that the night of black friday had just arrived, all of the online deals for the laptops i was interested was sold out at "Best Buy". This appeared as the best deal so far given to my budget and choices.

Really!!!!. are they all sold out?

Suddenly it felt like the world dawned upon me, for some reason, i couldn't withstand having missed upon a good deal just owing to my laziness. At the same time not really able to withstand the feeling of having brought the same laptop at a higher price or at a later date.

It was about 12AM , the mid night of blackfriday, the options that i had in front of me were either to Door Bust the Bestbuy Store at Ames, hoping i would still have one of the peices left to pick up, else order an other model online with another with a 100$ price difference but with a slightly better configuration. I was personally not happy with option 2 as it would mean spending a 100 more unecessarily for a configuration that would never be required to me. So here i was thinking , if i could only make it to BestBuy, i could still have a chance to pick up the model i desired.

The new 200$ dollar cycle of my Room mate had just arrived from Amazon and we did finally set it up. Although there were a few minor glitches with the gear shifts, the other things like the brakes and the tyre were made full functional :-).

In no time did this event occur, i made up my mind to set off a cycle ride to BestBuy Store at Ames. Given to the odds that i had to battle it out, it was not an easy task. The store just lay by the city 8kms from my home, but factors that mainly count in Iowa are the weather conditions which are already worse in the day and tend to deteriorate by the night. Well perhaps, these are the perceptions of the Souls from the tropical regions closer to the equator

Here's a quick Snapshot from the Weather Conditions the very day:

 Here's what it all means

Temperature : -1 DegC

( I guess manageable, with a jacket and a Cap on the head that ensures the ears fully sealed)

Feels like : -8Deg C

Not so happening, you expect a guy bought  up all his life in an enjoyable warm and sooting weather of Bangalore to cycle at -8Deg C. That was unreasonable ( Remember, the black friday is still at Stake .). So i say mangeable.

Winds: 42Kmph to 60Kmph

Now somebody's gotta be kidding. The best speed this cycle could reach given to the fact it was a small size and not made for my height was 20kmphr. Now how do you expect somebody to bear -8 DegC and also battle out these head strong winds working against you to make sure you never gained momentum to traverse forward, by the way this actually happened, more of that later on.

So the ride to BestBuy was flagged in no time, the excitement of having got back on the wheels was enormous, the chill didnt really matter, i knew there were a lot of  winds but i was lucky this time that they didn't work against me, which meant i enjoyed the ride and reached BestBuy in no time. What this also meant was i would have a tough time with the winds on my way back :-(

So here i was at the store, As soon as i enter, i notice the parking having gone full. OMG!!, i knew that i  had very faint chances of finding the laptop i wanted, nonetheless i was not among the ones loosing heart at this sight, i quickly stood by the queue and made it inside. What i find once i go in are huge queues of people with handful of boxes which could be TV, Laptops , Games, DVD, mobile phone, what not. What i also find inside is the more smarter ISU souls who have already made it inside to pick up an item of their choice. Not loosing much time , i quickly made it to the laptop counter.  I had a look at the demo piece  for my model and instantly i knew it was a fine choice to have made.

I was told that most of the laptops were gone, but luckily my perseverence helped me after i caught hold of many people at the store and finally succeeded in getting a ticket for this model. Now a ticket is a sheet of paper which are printed the same number as the number of quantities of laptops in the store. So what that means is with a ticket in my hand, i was indeed assured of a laptop. Wow!, Is this what they refer to as Efforts that paid off. My hands did go numb when i had got down from the cycle, slight loss of sensation within the face due to constant wind, but at the end of it, it was well worth it.

The next one hour was ensured standing in the billing queue admiring the scores of people who had turned in great numbers and with a spirited heart to fill their shopping carts this thanksgiving. Soon i  got my laptop billed and deposited it with the same counter hoping to pick it up the next day . Here i was patient enough to not hurry up and end up carrying the lappy on my back or on the cycle on what could have turned out to be a far more difficult journey back home.

Got my gears on ( Gloves and Cap), and embarked soon on the ride back home. The winds this time were even more horrible as the night aged. On perfectly flat road, i was struggling to keep myself moving, leave alone my cycle pushed in all hapazard directions to the strong head winds that i faced. The joy of cracking my blackfriday purchase kept me going against these odds.

The deserted roads at night 3 AM are beautiful in their own way. On a straight road, you would see a string of traffic lights at various junctions all light up and sychronised, radiating a lavishing green color and turning red occasionally. The exclusive pathways for cyclists ensure, your not risk of getting run over by a drunk guy driving a car. Although somewhere deep down under i did have an infinitesimal apprehension about getting robbed from a guy weilding a pistol , i was told Ames was one of the safest cities to be around in US, I was conscious about the a couple of guys that passed by me during this ride. I loved the houses that i passed by, all mostly wodden and in different shapes. Having all these lovable companions for the ride made no difference to my battle with the wind, i was still  struggling hard. A couple of times, it was so severe that it actually threw me of the track, yet i kept battling against the odds and after half an hour or so, i did make it home.

here it was, Home sweet home!, never ever felt this warmth before, my face having turned reddish, did slowly return to normal( Brown :-)). That formally marked an end to my Black Friday cycling adventure which also incidentally was my first cycle ride in USA. I covered a meagre 17kms in all, at the end of it, i have a good laptop deal to be proud off, a memorable cycle ride, and the confidence to take more cycling trips given to the Harsh Iowan Weathers.

Happy Thanksgiving people .

HAMPI EXPRESS ACCIDENT: Are we really doing enough?

More than a century later, after the first railway line between Mumbai and thane started operating in the 1850’s, the indian railway network has grown both in volume and reach across the country. The organization that is operated by the Govt. of India holds several records and achievements to its credit.

From providing a cheap and affordable form of transportation to its economically backward population, the railways also operates Ultra Luxury services like ‘Palace on Wheels’ for the uber rich class. However much to the apathy, the organization also suffers from Crippling issues that it has failed to encounter effectively.
 

While modernization, end to end connectivity, Super fast trains , Electrification, Frequency of service, etc appear as distant dream, the absolutely essential requirements like Passenger Safety, Vehicle safety, Reliable rail traffic control , adequate train services to match the passenger volume , railway infrastructure etc are few of the issues that have been raising plaguing the organization.

The rural population in our country has been our backbone ever since the country has seen economic growth, yet it also discerning to know that a vast majority of this population leaves in tragic conditions and are widely unemployed. In such a situation like this, it becomes absolutely necessary that these people traverse places in search of economic prosperity to afford a living. The rail transport has always been looked up by these people with much reverence for their transportation.

Unlike the west, in India there exists a wide gap between the cost of Rail and road transportation. To picture an example an unreserved chair class ticket in a passenger train from Mysore to Bangalore costs Rs.21, the same class in a govt. runs State bus transport costs Rs. 80 odd Rupees. Thus rail services come naturally as the most preferred form of transport for the masses at places where there is railway services.




While the indian railway has made no significant progress in technology updation or infrastructure betterment in the last several decades, it has neither brought in place a robust railway traffic safety system that runs and operates error free and is human independent. The most recent Hampi Express tragedy brings into limelight a sad reality of how a human error has claimed the lives of 25 people and injured many more in the process.

Often it is the poor who are at receiving end of these mistakes, since they have no representation and more so because nobody values their life as important as those of people travelling in Air with luxury. The real causes for these accidents have also been the same and they occur at the rate of atleast 1 or 2 in a month consistently. It is absolutely apathetic that in the modern age of 2012, we are losing valuable human lives due to naive rail accidents that involve driver overshooting signals, trains ramming into each other, derailing, etc.








I do not deliberate into the technicalities of these accidents; I wish to believe that not enough has been done to root out such human error claiming precious lives of people. What could be more heartbreaking than to hear a case of rail accident due to train overshooting a signal, a reason for this being attributed to driver dozing or similar reasons like misalignment of tracks due to operator mistakes. We live in the age oftechnological marvels and we are helpless to see 1000’s of people losing lives every year due to outdated error prone traffic safety systems and staff that the railways run on. It’s just not about the people alone, there is a huge loss occurring through damage of property, railway infrastructure, etc.

Then there is a problem of overcrowding at general compartments due to non-availability of seats, as was the case with the ill fated Hampi Express. Every unreserved coach was filled with 120 people against its seating capacity of 60, what is even more appalling to know is every train has 3 or 4 of these general compartments as against 15 to 20 of reserved coaches and these unreserved coaches are always equally divided and shunted both in the front of the train and the back of the train. So no matter, this trains rams into another train or another train rams into this one, the people at the unreserved class bear the first brunt of the tragedy, this fact was evident from the recent tragedy as well. These are people without representation and with a voice that is unheard. They are always on the losing end.

So at the end of the day we come across many questions that need to be answered by the govt.

So is the modern technology for manning the rail traffic system missing in place?
Yes it is.



Why is this not implemented in place?

Indian railways with an installed track length of close to 115000 Kms is one of the largest railway network in the world. The budget for modernization is huge. It requires immense political will to bring about these implementations. The successive governments till date have only utilized railway portfolio to secure their vote banks and mostly bring un uniform development resulted in regional disparity. A solid focus and immense will power is required to bring these developments into the railways and can be implemented phase by phase.


The need of the hour is to act and not speculate or anticipate. We need to come up with a technical committee comprising of government representatives and industrial experts. This committee shall immediately take into the modalities of the current situation and advice suitably on how concentrated safety features are brought about in the rail network. While natural calamities and unexpected incidents cannot be prevented. It is upon us to foresee in advance incidents like train collision, Misalignment in track, Bomb Explosion, Derailment of coaches and prevent any accidents that arise out of these causes

CYCLE TO WORK!!

In a bid to cut down on some additional flab and reduce weight I have taken to look back on to “Cycle to Work” Concept. So this entails me to be cycling for 40kms in total every single day. Although, the project took off with many apprehensions, it has been flowing smoothly with a few minor glitches.


So a week later, my body seems to slowly adapt to the strenuous workout schedule that the cycling brings with it. The activity is quite an enjoyable one though. After a refreshing bath in the morning, it’s a great idea to feel some fresh air, flex some muscles for an hour of cycling in a relatively emptier, free of Signal road. On the Contrary, the drive back home after a day’s long work is another experience in itself. Navigating your way through the slightest gap in an already overcrowded road is an accomplishment no less in difficulty. It brings in much needed excitement and delivers a punch to your wits after a routine day at office. An eye for the slightest detail, an ear for the most feeble sound, a Body with Proximity sensor all around, etc these are some of the factors that makes a difference between a safe ride home OR ending up with a road accident :-(
Here are a list of Pros and Cons of cycling on Bangalore Roads that people should be watchful. The critic in me is more tempted to complain, then appreciate, so let me start off with the cons of Cycling in Bangalore.


1. “THE ROADS ARE FILLED WITH IDIOTS WHO HAVE NO RESPECT FOR CYCLISTS”

The economic boom in the recent years in Bangalore has left many an idiots with absolutely no road sense or respect for fellow travelers to own up a two wheeler. It’s quite an easy affair for these idiots to procure 2 wheelers/4 wheelers through an easy EMI Scheme, Exchange offer or buy a pre owned vehicle. Their Haphazard Driving habits, casually switching lanes, dangerous overtakes is an eminent risk a cyclist faces. If autos took all the blame game for so many years, now they have a fierce competitors, The TATA INDICAB cars, who’re even more absolutely careless and reckless in their driving habits, of course exception do exist in the above list


2. “POOR QUALITY OF ROADS”

The crippling transport infrastructure also ensures that cyclists have a tough time navigating those huge path holes or crevices :-) and unscientific humps that form an integral part of Bangalore Roads. The light weight construction of the cycle leaves these cycles with poor ability to take on the Bangalore roads. Although the ride on a flat road is absolutely enjoyable, the treatment meted out to the Bums resting on the small Saddle when passing through uneven road is a sad tale to share here :-(


3. “WHY IS BANGALORE NOT FLAT”

I was wondering the other day, ‘who else than a cyclist know better the value of g’. The uneven altitude of Bangalore leaves it with practically innumerable number of ups and downs throughout the city. Although driving through an up is one of the best work outs one could possible get, it becomes an unsought after affair in a long distance ride and especially a total ` Ban for office commuters. As the sweat it induces stays with the cyclist throughout the day, this could in turn lead to hygiene issues at the office places. Having a colleague of yours in office with a stink and body odor walk around you the whole day is not particularly the greatest thing to have in office.
By the way 'g' meant GRAVITY
I intend to wind up with these reasons, the list of Cons the cyclist faces. Now is the time to make your hearts light. Let me bring out some exhilarating, light or Funny moments that a cyclist could end up in cycling in Bangalore.


1. “SEE THE WORLD MOVE IN 1X SPEED”


If a good rider on a 2wheeler rode his vehicle at 50kmphr on a Bangalore Road, the cyclist practically ends up driving at an average of 25kmphr, except at some places that either have too flat and broad roads or have no traffic snarls where he moves much faster.
Moving at exactly half the speed of the 2 wheeler, you get put your eye on every detail, and every detail gets to put an eye on you :-) :-). Now jokes apart, moving at this pace, you certainly the watch the world around changing at a slower pace. One gets to keep a thorough attention on various landmarks, buildings, Commercial establishments, Entertainment zones, etc, all these places which may have otherwise got missed out from the person’s attention. So yeah, it makes you more geographically knowledgeable about the city.


2.  “CYCLING IS ALL ABOUT CYCLING, THE JOY ASSOCIATED WITH IT”

A real Cycle enthusiasts who rode a cycle in his childhood extensively would definitely remember the innate joy associated with it. In a motorized automobile world like ours, where everything runs on a motor that is solely driven by a liquid fuel and ultimately emitting noxious emissions, to be driving a bike alone through your muscular energy, to be covering huge distances, to be supplying all those energy that came from Fossil fuels all your self is a feeling best appreciated when experienced than heard or said.
Its like a guy cooking his own meal,
Its like a person building his own house.
You go independent, all yourself, a Flawless standalone entity worth taking note of.

3.  “BURN AND SWEAT THOSE ADDITIONAL CALORIES”

A very conventional reason that I don’t have to talk about much, I shall move on


4.  “BREAK A TRAFFIC RULE AND YET, GET NO TICKET”

Guys, the reason is strictly ust to be read and not to be followed. I just thought of enlisting this reason in academic interest to make the article Complete. Yes, indeed, if you’re too annoyed with the pace traffic moves in Bangalore, You may occasionally take on the Footpath, ride on the one way Road or Jump a Signal. Although these actions may have other repercussions by the way of safety of the cyclist, etc. The option does still exist :-)

5.“STOP BREAKING YOUR HEAD OVER THE FUEL HIKE”

Fuels hikes don’t hurt you no more. For all those people who ride alone in a huge car to office with glasses pulled up and AC in full throttle. Guys, give yourself a life. You may be laughing out loud on others just because you have a diesel Car and are benefited on par with your petrol Counterparts. But don’t ever forget that Diesel as a fuel is subsidized to help the Farmers of this nation Sustain Fuel Costs on all their Farm equipments like Tractors, etc which run on this Fuel. It is being subsidized to help the Commercial transport Sustainable to help the economy see more development. You may be slowly eating away from somebody else’s pie today, but tomorrow the same is going to hit back on you. ACT now, before it’s too LATE.

Before I get more and more thoughts emitting out, I would best prefer to sign off for now. I will definitely come back in a month’s time to share my experience on the one month continuous Cycling Schedule that is currently rolling. I shall wait, cycle and then Watch

DUDHSAGAR through Kuveshi Village

My quest for travel takes me to a considerable number of places. As the list of these places increase in number, the desire to cover even more number of places is inevitable.  But at times the temptation to revisit some of the already seen places takes over this quest to see more places. These are times I am just tempted to visit Dudh Sagar, Pondicherry, etc.

It all begin in the year 2009 when I first visited DudhSagar, Like they say “Attraction to you comes naturally to me”. Falling in love with this place happened naturally. Ever since then I have been regularly visiting this place year after year. Each year I come with a bouquet full of expectations and return with a bountiful of fond memories.

This secluded place, which is known to a few lies in the south northern tip of Karnataka. It all starts when the “Chennai-Vasco Express” leaves Hubli at about 6AM. The natural green carpet of nature unfurls along both sides of the track, complimented by a humming sound of the engine that soothes your mind. As you say good bye to the humanised and mechanized form of world, a more beautiful and rich world laden with all its green jewels occupies your sight.

We alight at Castle rock on a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun is about to show his might after rising up the horizon. Unlike the conventional route through the railway track, this trek had been planned through the jungle.  We quickly cross the railway over bridge across the station and reach the small village neighboring the station. The village houses a population with a cross cultural influence of both kannada and Marathi Languages. The population is around a 200 or even lesser,   with people mostly dependent on employment in the big railway station nearby.

The itinerary of the trip was to reach the Summit of DudhSagar taking a Jungle, through a small Hamlet called Kuveshi. There are exactly 2 different routes from the Starting point of the trek to reach Kuveshi. One of the route is a motorable(Bike or Jeep!, Although not sure about the feasibility of Jeep) and the other route is to trek along the Jungle.

As soul trekkers with all the gears on, we embark on the jungle terrain, criss crossing Pristine Streams, green & dried grassland, amazing landscapes, Big wide Shady trees to rest under and climb over J. We also come across some creepy insects with amazing colors.

The route is well laid out and is supported by direction indicating pole stands at turns or curves. After a casual walk for half a day, we break for lunch. Soon after we resume another casual walk which was of a slightly tougher level and make it to Kuveshi by close of the day.

Kuveshi:

This place is a total masterpiece. A small tiny settlement of about 10 families, who are into farming.
If Castle rock had an influence of Kannada and Marathi Cultures, this place was more influenced by Goan cultures along with a pinch of Kannada. The greatest part is yet to come,The place has no electricity or water facilities. All they have is pure and unpolluted air and the Mandovi River(their only water source), which flows through the village ultimately forming Dudh Sagar and heading towards Goa. This place belongs to Sirsi District of Karnataka.

We manage to Pitch our bags in the Govt. Primary School at Kuveshi, and break for a refreshing bath at  the nearby Mandovi River. The water although chillingly cold took away all the body pains that a day long trek had brought in. The fish Massage in the river was one particularly mentioning. The tiny little needle poking your legs in all direction is a good tickle one could get. The dinner for the night was prepared by a resident of this place, who offered us a filling and tasty meal

The Govt. Primary School served as the Lodging for a few while the rest of us found solace under the starts inside our warm Sleeping Bags. The charm of the sleeping bag was also irresistible that a neighbor kitten took turns in cuddling up itself under this sleeping bag all through the nightJ.

Day 2:

Early next morning we start the day off with Cuppa Noodles and other ready to eat delicacies. We soon bid a warm goodbye to the residents of this lovely village and embark on the trail to the top of dudhSagar with the help of a kid from the same village. The trail is well laid and takes a winding route; we see a pack of Languor Monkeys that immediately shy away on noticing our presence.
We again come across Mandovi River, which now has taken a wider trail. Crossing a Man made bridge, made out of Bamboo offered some adrenaline and pepped up the tempo among the group. This had been the only challenging task throughout the trek for the last 2 days.

A 10 min walk from this bridge leads to the fall. The majestic dudh sagar could be heard roaring from a distance. We take several rocky paths, jumps and slippery stones to finally make it to the tip of the falls. A view from here is definitely not for the faint hearted. The railway track on the base of the waterfall appears totally diminished, as if a pair of metal frames arranged parallel to each other.  The train passing down under appeared nothing more than a tiny little toy train with as many bogies as one could imagine. As the train descends the ghat, the entire course of track is made visible by the virtue of the height that we were standing on.

The up roaring sound of the water makes you lose a heartbeat. Your smallest step, a turn, or a jump would mean a wide difference between life and instant death. This raging water takes a plunge from a huge height; it plummets on the rocks at about 100-150 meters below, before finally taking more plunges that are varying in height. This had been the most intense part of the trek. A risky affair that we had taken with a group that was a confluence of both amateurs and experienced trekkers

The way down was a simple affair through the jungle, getting down through an existing path. It took us close to 25 mins to reach the Dudh Sagar Railway Station just above the abandoned Portuguese Guest house.  From here, we reach the actual Dudh Sagar view point and head to the base of the waterfall. An hour trek from here leads us to Saloleim Station from where we catch the Delhi Bound , Goa Express to reach Londa. The bribe to the ticket collector on the this journey was Rs. 200 per head, For travelling in reserved compartment. But with such huge bagpacks the possibility of getting into an unreserved compartment was itself ruled out.

From Londa, we catch the Bangalore bound Kettur Rani Chenamma Express and comfortably make It home on time. Yet another beautiful journey covering some splendid places bordering Karnataka and Goa had now come to an end. The photos and the memories of Kuveshi, their simplistic lifestyle and the beauty of this place will remain in my memory for years to come. The Majestic dudh Sagar although not in its full splendor, owing to the season will still however continues to excite me in the list of Places I revisit every year .