Travelling From H.NZM

Last month July was totally a journey month, whole month we were travelling to different places including our parents and  that too in between madness of traffic jams due to rain, heavy rains, train delays due to Power grid failure.
I like travelling via train as I meet/see different people some strange, some funny and looking out of window and hanging on door takes me to all those old memories of my earlier life. Every time I have to travel I start getting excited and conscious to reach station on time to avoid last minute running and pushing. I totally believe on our railways that train will not arrive at platform at the exact time but still I don't want to take any chance. 

Well, it's  been around 12 years since I started travelling own my own mostly using railways and every time I go to my home in Gujarat I feel the same excitement which I used to feel in those days of my graduation. (I left my home for the first time to pursue my graduation)

Whenever I choose railways to commute I feel that one of the good job which Lalu has done in his railway ministry tenure is to start Garib rath train, this train is equipped completely with 3rd AC sleeper coaches with half fare as compared to normal rates of 3 tier AC and the best thing is that it takes 13 hours (~same as Rajdhani express ) to reach Surat from Delhi so it suits me best to go home on cheaper fare using Air Conditioned facility. 
Btw, the purpose of starting Garib Rath train was to make poor people afford travelling in Air Conditioned sleeper coaches on cheaper fare although I have never seen any poor people travelling in it. All middle class people use it to lower their travel expenses, this train's booking get full in the first 30 minutes on the day when advance reservation period opens i.e. 120 days.

As I said, last month was full of journey so Hazrat Nizzamuddin railway station was my most visited station and every time I go there I see:-

1. The women who first request and then pin up small indian flag on your shirt then start asking money?

2. The local dhaba got beer Haywards 50000 to sell, I have never seen it on thekas and in pub. :)

 3. The installed X-ray machine is not getting used completely, many labour class people passing it without putting their jhola/Thela in it.

4. The parking is always full. Government should give a thought to build a multilevel parking

5. The prepaid auto rickshaw counter executive is not present in his booth most of the time.

6. There are no sign boards to parcel office, how one is supposed to find it to book his parcel.

7. One of the CISF security guard standing always near X-Ray machine plays an important role in managing crowd on the entrance of station. I hope there are more like him.

8. There is no Ticket checker on the exit of station.

9. H. NZM has a fine Comesum restaurant which is open 24x7. It also serves a place for night hangout especially in winters.

10. Railway has installed a big billboard which shows status of incoming and outgoing trains.

11. Auto and taxi drivers can make a big hole in your pocket by putting their fare missile if you are unknown about the usual fare to your destination.

I hope someday Railway ministry gives H.NZM station a cosmetic fix as it did to New Delhi Railway Station.

Aakkkthuuu…

Driver:(Chewing Tobacco) Picchhhh…. arey!! 15 tareek lo band ho jai…phir ka kareebe??
Other Person:Band ho jai to ho jai…stock mangaye lenge.
Driver: Abe Baklol!!, kitna stockwa kareebe? Phir khtam hoibe ki na hoibe?
Other Person: Khtam ho jai to ho jai, mangaye lenge phir rishtedaarwa se jab uhh Patna to Delhi aawe.
Driver: haan, Uhh bhi thik he….saala iske bina to zindagi jhand he…guzara nahin hoga sasura

I don’t know whether above conversation was in Bihari or Bhojpuri, it was on our way from office to parking plot between our shuttle cab driver and one of his colleague who was sitting besides him in Maruti Omni.

Did you get the idea about which thing they were talking about? They were talking about the ban on tobacco and nicotin products such as gutkha, pan masala, cigarrates etc which government of Haryana and Delhi is applying after 15 August 2012. They were tensed about getting their masala once it gets banned and not available on  khoka at every nukkad.It seemed that they can not live without chewing gutkha as if their body does not work untill they put gutkha in between their tongue and teeth.
Government is taking this step to stop consumption of these things in the state to avoid bad consequences while on the other hand these people have started making schemes to get it either by purchasing it in bulk before ban to stock or by finding ways to smuggle it from the neighboring states where it is not getting banned.

On one of the news website I found a news about this ban, Gutkha manufacturing companies are making new ways to sell their product. They are planning to sell the required ingredients for Gutkha to sell separately in market so one who wants to have gutkha can mix these ingredients and enjoy it. (I am not  showing a way to tobacco lovers)

Many educated and uneducated people are aware about the consequences of such products but still they consume it, not able to leave their habit and do picchhh… aakkthuuu… everywhere to paint the walls and corners.What an artist these Gutkha chewers are, paintings created by their spitted color should be placed in some art exhibition for bidding. They do not only paint the walls they use the roads as well and the art of painting things while on the move is excellent. One of my friend's taste buds have become insensitive as he is not able to feel any taste due to excessive chewing of Gutkha but he is still continuing with his habit.

Such people should take care of their habit, they should not paint walls with the color from their mouth and they should not make other people passive smoker.

Reward and Recognition

As our Organization is an integral part of People CMM, few months back they initiated the practice of bringing employee’s innovative methods to the limelight.


They launched Continuous Capability Improvement(CCI) drive where employee get opportunities to share their creative work process approaches among the other associates so they provided a platform to recognize and reward the innovative Personal Work Processes (PWPs) implemented by an employee to enhance efficiency and effectiveness as individuals and teams. In this one has to include introduction of any new tool, practice and procedure which helped in increasing efficiency , over all capability and simplifying work process.


I participated in it, shared my personal techniques/methods to accomplish a work/task to keep client and bosses happy, the best part is that my PWP get selected as one of the best PWPs so I got a reward for this from top shots of management. :)


This is a second good thing happened to me after my appraisal in June. I am happy :D


Here is the award

Quick tips for Lansdowne

Lansdowne is a small hill-station in Pauri-Garhwal District of the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and it is a perfect place for your weekend trip. You do not require to take any extra leave from your office.
It is a quite and beautiful place where you can spend quality time with your family.There is nothing like tourist attraction apart from the beauty of hills and green valleys. It attracts tourists from Delhi and other near by areas, most of the tourist comes during weekend but still this place does not appear to be over crowded. As it is a small place so number of hotels/resorts are less and expensive of course.
If you love trekking than Lansdowne is a place for you, all the places in Lansdowne are in the radius of 5 km which can be covered by foot but remember 5 km trekking on hill may seem bit difficult but it is a best way to see the natural beauty. If you don’t have your own vehicle and you are not willing to trek then you can hire it from Gandhi chowk (main Bazaar area of Lansdowne). The rates are quite high and unreasonable to cover 5 km but local people say that it is the only way of their earning.
If you get vomiting sensation during driving uphill then don’t forget to take pills which prevents vomiting sensations. Trust me these pills are totally life saver.


How to reach:
If you want to go by your own vehicle (suggested) then Lansdowne is around 240 Kms from Delhi and is the nearest hill station from Delhi. By road it will take around 7 hours from Delhi to Lansdowne. Having your own vehicle will enable you to easily visit nearby towns and temples.
You can also have the option of train, there are two trains from Delhi Mussorie express and Garhwal express to Kotdwara, from Kotdwara Lansdowne is 40 km drive up hill.Buses and taxis are available from the Kotdwar railway station directly upto the Lansdowne market, a shared taxi charges INR 50.
If you want to hire a private taxi then the charge from Kotdwara to Lansdowne is Rs 500. Beware of the high charges told by taxi drivers who will greet you as soon as you will walk out of Kotdwara Railway station.
Same is applicable for returning.


Best time:
Across the year. Avoid rainy season as there are chances of Land slide to block roads.


Accommodation:
There are not very much hotels and resorts in Lansdowne. You can find some hotels and resorts from website www.makemytrip.com but accommodation available on this website are far from the main market of Lansdowne. Main market is the center point of Lansdowne.
The cheap and best option is to book your room at Tourist Rest house maintained by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited ( a government of Uttarakhand Enterprise). The rooms are good and not very expensive. You have to do your booking in advance as there are not many rooms, you can do your booking from gmvnl’s website http://gmvnl.com/newgmvn/check1.asp?naam='trh', You have to create a user for booking your accommodation. Tourist rest house is near to center point of Lansdowne.


Restaurants:
Various small restaurants offer decent selection of snacks, lunch and dinner and most of them are located around Gandhi Chowk (Town centre). We went to Hotel Mayur all the time as it suits us.
Your Hotel/resort will also have the fooding facility.


Places to see:

• Kaleshwar Mahadev Temple – Way goes from Gandhi chowk

Below places are together i.e. If you go to Bulla lake first then you can go to St. James church, Tip-n-Top and Santoshi Mata temple and vice versa.

• Bhulla Lake – A small artificial lake made by cantonment, open for boating from 10 am to 5 pm. Boating charge is Rs 40 for adults.
• St. James Church – A small church made in the pre independence era.
• Tip-in-Top - A view point, on a clear day you can see the green valley.
• Santoshi Mata Temple (On way to the temple watch out for the tree with giant ear, and the reindeer rock)

Below places lies on the way to Garhwal Rifles Museum

• Snow View - a view point, on a clear day one can view great Himalayan peaks like Chaukhamba etc
• Garhwal Rifles Museum – Has medals and rifles of the officers from Garhwal Regiment. Entry ticket is of Rs 50 for adults.

Near by Places:

• Jwalpa Devi (47 km)
• Durga Devi temple (24 km)
• Tarkeshwar Mahadev (30 km) - beutiful and quite place
• Karnva Ashram (14 km) - where Shakuntala is said to have given birth to Raja Bharat

Theatre:

There is one theatre which shows movies, it is near to Gandhi chowk.

Quick Links:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Lansdowne_(India)

http://gmvnl.com

Known faces but Unknown people

How often it happened with you when you saw a known face but that person is unknown to you or you know that person but that person don't know you or both of you have seen each other before but you don't have any communication?

I believe this happens most of the time in our day to day life. When such moment comes either we just smile at each other and move forward with out saying any word or we go to that person and tell him/her that "I have seen you before..." and we are sure where we have seen him/her then we directly tell them "Hey... you work in office or you are from the same residential society..." or we just don't say anything.

I usually tell the person who is with me (at that time) that I know this person and it happens most of the time with me. I am somewhat good in remembering names and faces of people, in fact my colleagues call me database of names because most of the time when we are talking about a chick or a dude from our office I have their name.

I remember one incident which happened with me at Chennai airport, I  and Palak were waiting for flight to Andaman, We were munching at a snack counter and I saw a man standing 5 feet away from me and looking at me continuously, when I shifted my gaze from Palak to him he gave me a big smile and started walking towards me with his open hands as if he was going to hug me. When he came more closer his expression got changed and he dropped his open hands. I asked him

I: "Excuse me, do we know each other?"

He: "Actually, I guess...no, you very much look like my younger brother"


I: "Well, that may be a coincidence but did your brother get married recently?"

He: "No, he is married for 5 years?"


I: "...then definitely I am not him because I got married 3 days before and we are on the way to our honeymoon".


He:"Oh ok...Congratulations!! Actually, I am going for a family reunion in Mumbai and my brother who looks like you is coming directly to Mumbai from Singapore. I thought he came here to surprise me and go along with me".


I: "Oh...I am sorry that I am not him.... have a good time in your family reunion".


Such incidents happens sometimes.Generally,chances of happening this is more if you are working in an Corporate firm or a place where many people work at the same time, there you have your own small social group and you see other people during lunch time or town hall meeting. Some people don't hesitate to speak on such moments but sometimes they got success and sometimes the person says "Sorry, I am not the one you are looking for".

Stupid Cell Phone

Aap logo ne ye to suna hi hoga ki "aajkal lagi hui he" ya phir "Boss ne le rakhi he" or "life is screwing me hard" but kabhi ye suna he ki "mere phone ne meri leli"?? Trust me, aapka phone bhi kabhi aapki le sakta he.... kaise?? thik waise hi jaise mere phone ne meri [ehem][ehem]...

Last week Monday, I received a call from a unknown number, when I took the call the caller told me that he has received a missed call from my number, I put him on hold and checked my call log and I did not made any call to him. I told him that I have not made the call but he didn't get convinced and I have to end the call abruptly. I got another call from a different unknown number and this caller was also saying the same thing. I didn't get what was happening, initially, I thought Airtel's network might got goofed up but it was not like that. I was continuously receiving the calls from different people saying the same thing and all my effort to explain them that I have not made any call was going waste.

When I received 10th call that day I asked the caller about the number from which they got missed call and it was 9990703**4 (an Idea subscriber number). Soon, I realized that this idea subscriber has diverted all incoming calls to my number and this subscriber is giving missed calls to different people who in turn calling back to this idea subscriber but their calls were landing to my number due to that call divert feature. When I got the whole game I realized that it is very hard to make people understand what was actually happening so I decided to not to answer any call from an unknown number which was getting flashed on my cell phone screen with Nokia's call divert symbol.

I tried to make a call to this idea subscriber to inform him/her about this stupidity but my call got loop back due to that call divert and my cell phone was showing dialed number as engage. I thought to send a sms to this idea number but my sms were getting failed. I was receiving the calls whole day, whole week till Sunday and it was really baffling me.So, there was no way left to contact/inform this idea subscriber besides hoping to receive a call from any friend/relative of this number and answering it to request them.

You must be thinking why I haven't contacted Customer Care? I did and they told me that call divert feature is activated from the cell phone itself which orders sim-card to divert all incoming calls to the provided number so they are unable do anything in this as there is nothing which is activated from their side. They told me to find that subscriber personally and request him/her to disable it, I asked them how in world I can find a person with only a cell phone and that to when Customer Care keeps name and address information confidential to public.(Stupid Guys....)
                                 One of the  amazing thing of this facility is that you can divert your incoming call to any number with out having consent/confirmation from the owner of diverted number.Idea customer care executive told me to try lodging a complaint on Idea Showroom, may be they can take some action on this matter or lastly I can lodge a Police complaint against this number.

On Sunday, I received the very first call of the day, I didn't answered it for the first time, it came again, I didn't answered it second time, it came third time as well, Palak asked me to at least answer the call waise bhi kaun sa humare call rate lag rahe the so I answered it and it was from the owner of that number. She was Deepa, an Idea executive who sells Idea sim-cards. My bubble of anger burst on her and I told her that I have already made a Police complaint against this number and now she is going to face Police enquiry (it was a lie but I thought it was necessary). She, actually felt that she was not receiving any calls on her number in that whole week so she started investigating (pagal.... tube-light kahin ki...) and made her call me from a different number. I told her to disable call divert by dialing ##02# on her mobile immediately.Sone pe Suhaga to ye tha ki us bandi ne apne sim card pe sms service activate nahin karwa rakhi thi.... that's why my sms were getting failed.

After Sunday afternoon she disabled call divert and my phone stopped ringing. Jabse mere pass ye phone he tab se aajtak ye itna nahin baja hoga jitna peechle hafte baja he... :)

I believe Idea tagline is really true..... "An Idea can change your life" :)

PS: Arey yaar log bhi kitne curious hote hein.... ek missed call aa jaye kisi ke pass to pura enquiry kar ke hi maante hein.

Patience,Wait and Increment

Some times life put us in dilemma, we don’t know what it want and where it is going to take us.

We always want things to fall apart in the way we like them to be but it did not happen always, life has different plan for us. From the past few months I have been involved in some things and if they turned in my favor then they will benefit me in a really good way but the dilemma is they are not turning either in my favor or on the other side which is really irritating. My friends says to go with the flow of life and have patience but day by day I am going impatient.

Every day I am waiting for some updates on those ventures and I want the outcome as soon as possible. I am not bothered about the positive or negative outcome, whatever it is let it be, at least I will be able to plan further as soon as the things get clear.

All those positive quotes like “Don’t get angry on your life when you do not get desired things, your life knows that you deserve more than your desires”,”Whatever is happening, is happening for your own good” and “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet” are holding me up during this time.

Above quote are somewhat true, my awaited increment letter which was due from April 2012 was in my Inbox in the first week of this month. I was waiting for it from the day when I filled up my appraisal form (patience) and when I received it I really liked the increment in my salary (this fruit is really sweet) which is going to be credited with the salary of June. My wife is waiting for it more then me :)

I hope things to become clear, the sooner the best.