SSJ : Raconteur par excellence

I'd been to KPHI last week and met a hyper active personality - lets call him SSJ. This post is about him. Now old SSJ is truly what one would call multi-faceted. He can be a doting family man at one moment and an all-out-daring-baring street ruffian at the next. We met him as soon as we reached KPHI by bus. He was all welcoming and all and immediately got down to arranging necessary things. Scooting here and there with high levels of energy - thats SSJ.

He is involved with so many activities that he doesnt have time to tell us all about it. He just goes on and on ... and one cant stop listening to him. He can enliven even a dull place like KPHI. All this stems from his love for life and doing things - keeping busy in both the important and the trivial. This sustains him to the fullest.

He indeed did go out of the way to make our stay rather comfortable. Selfless in a way.

After all what can you cay about a person who ....

... loves the good decent things in life
..... can create a ruckus on the street and also can give his bullies their due - no one dare take him for granted , given his small built.
.... likes gardening - has maintained the garden with a lot of care in his building
... likes to cook - can dish out rather tasty stuff
....... drives like a maniac - but carefully enough so as to not send anybody up
... loves drama - he has even acted in a family pantomine
............ can draw crowds to hear him recite meditation and religious mantras
.... pull off all activities which religious priests do - infact in his town his is sought after during the Ganesh festival
.... can down many lethal alocoholic concoctions at a go - and still walk straight on the road dividers
..... has good command over his computer - and can dish out simple but effective solutions - inspite of the omni-presence of SAP systems in his company
.. loves his friends and goes out of the way to make them comfortable
..... can serve ice-cream to his friends at 3 am at the deserted city bus depot.
.... loves his family and kids
........ converts his disadvantages to his benefit with good effect

... and a lots more - of which I still dont know ....

A nice person to know.

(Thats why they say - develop varied interests - dont get stuck with just your job - or just one thing or vice - theres a lot more to be seen and done that what you already have)

IIT Bombay's Vikrams

Alt. title : Rust in peace

IIT Bombay used to have these electric three-wheelers that used to run all over the campus. You could halt them on the way by waving your hand and travel to any part of the campus for two rupees. A private contactor used to run these services. It was convenient to the inmates of IIT and since it was electric powered, it was non-polluting. All of a sudden about two years back, the service was suspended. People said that there was some problem with the RTO. Now I dont understand what the RTO has got to do in this. Besides, IIT is also in a way a state controlled place and not anybodys private domain. Anyway the service stopped. And it was back to talking the noisy polluting regular autos - the Bajaj three-wheelers.

Now two and a half years later, I spotted these at the Kurla S.T. Depot, Nehru Nagar, of all places. They were in terrible condition, compared to what they used to be. It was rather dissappointing to see them in such a state. After all they had served the IIT for a good cause and in a good way. This is however the outcome of narrow minded beauraucratic beahviour.

Let the Tum-Tums or Vikrams or whatever you may call them ... let them rest (if not rust) in peace. At Kurla (E) S.T. Depot.

Visit to KPHI (Girivihar)

KPHI in language of the Indian Railways means "Khopoli". This is a small non-descript town about 80 kms from Bombay (CSTM). Its at the start (Bhor Ghat) of the ghats section of the old Bombay-Poona highway. Khopoli is mainly a small town which serves as a halt for travellers on the Bombay - Lonavala section. Its got a few rudimentary hotels and eating places. Of the business establishments / industry there (i.e., economy of the place) - the prominent ones are the Tata Hydro Electric Power Station (that also provides power to the Railways. Tata's are good - hence the railways do a fine job. God forbid, if the other pvt. player in Mumbai was supplying to the Railways), MUSCO - Mahindra Ugine Steel Co. - that makes steel from scrap iron/steel or something. They have a rather polluting and noisy (at least it looked like that) plant. I really dont know how well this company is doing or what its fate is going to be. After all they run SAP. Another thing about this place is that there used to be a company called PEPCO or something, that was there many years ago here but has now closed down. That company did do a lot for the place. Khopoli was known as "Girivihar" in earlier times. Not much is known about how the name "Khopoli" evolved.

Anyway I was there this Sunday.

I also visited the railway station. A feature of this is that from Palasdhari (PDI) (on the KJT-PA) line to KPHI its a single line track. This is the only section on the entire Mumbai Suburban Rail Netowrk that has a single line. This route was built over 75 years ago, when the TATA's set up their hydro-electric plant. This is the final station on that link. Trains go no further than KPHI. Also, the frequency of CSTM trains from here is quite few (just 2 or 3 in the full day). Totally there are just about 15 services from KPHI, and most operate as shuttle services to KJT.

Aflatoon and Alfatoon

Aflatoon is a guy who comes over to our place at lunch time to solve crossword puzzles on the net. Alfatoon is a guy who comes over to our place at lunch time to sleep. Alfa has recently got himself a Coolpix 5600 from Alfa, hence the name. Aflatoon gave us two meanings (i. a muslim sweet dish loaded with ghee ii. dhaasoo) of "aflatoon", hence the name. Now one day Alfatoon told Aflatoon that he does the crossword puzzles so fast during lunch only because he has already solved the same puzzle in the mornings - after having spent hours poring over it. Now this hurt Aflatoon so badly that old Aflatoon has stopped solving the puzzles in front of us during lunch, how much ever we try to convince him that Alfatoon didnt mean no harm and it was just said in jest. Alfatoon on the other hand hasnt stopped giggling, ever since. So this is the story of Aflatoon and Alfatoon. The crossword controvery rages on unabated ....

(Alfatoon is one of our two rivers)

Christianity and Islam

There are lots of similarities between these two religons. One can say they are the same, differing in only the name perhaps. The main controller of these two streams also have similar traits and stories behind them. The preachings are similar - visit your church or mosque or else ... The events of both religons are also similar - fasting in Ramzan and Lent. Both have a single holy place - one is in Jerusalem and the other at Mecca. Both have single books to lead their followers - Koran and Bible. Both are based on a modern day man leading them - Mohammed and Jesus , who actually roamed around in recent times. Another thing is that when both of them were around there was no such thing as Islam or Christianity. They got developed after they vanished. Both preach that intoxication is prohibited. We dont actually know if in earlier times the Big J and the Big M actually indulged in them. (Other religons are pretty candid about their gods taking substances.) Christians dont actually forbid alcohol, but they wouldnt like people to get drunk. Anyway when the church itself dishes out a peg or two to its visitors, this is not surprsing. And visit any Catholic-oriented club like Willingdon Club or Bandra Gym - and see the rivers of booze that flow there. Most Muslims take alcohol on the sly. Both religons have pretty strict practices as far as following their religon is concerned. Both religons readily embrace the practice killing of animals for food.

Their names are also similar.

David -- Dawood
Joseph -- Yousuf
Samuel -- Ismail
Abraham -- Ibrahim
Jacob -- Yakub
Alexander -- Sikander
Mary - Mariam

The KJM WDG 3A 13034

I was at the door of a WGACCW. Our train had halted for a crossing , somewhere after Belgaum. This is single line territory so trains have to stop by on the loop lines to let others pass. Sometimes you wait, sometimes the other. Soon this train came thundering in. It was powered by a series of 3 WDG's the first one being the one shown alongside. It was a goods train. Engine drivers have been given this light blue shirt / dark blue pants uniform - and most wear them. This guy was waving the green flag as the train passed. You think he saw me. Not at all. At least not while going at above 120 km/h. I was seated at the doorstep, the camera in my hand. In fact I clicked about 0.25 secs late. Anyway next time it will be better. Belgaum - Arsekere is single line and pure WDG/WDM/WDP territory. You see all the HUB locos and the KJM locos zipping around.

Pure Diesel from Krishnarajpuram. (Near SBC).

(I had written in an earlier post that Ill be surrounded by WAG's and WAM's. It should have read WDM's and WDG's. This is deisel territory. No electrics here.)

Bhavi Sule

I saw Bhavi on the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka. It was a bright sunny day and the wind was blowing in the trees and the vast expanse of green fields. Now there is also supposed to be somewhere close her sister, Dhavi. Im also told (by the Ganges) that Bhavi does cook up a mean idli and wada meal. But when I saw her there was no idli or wada. There was nothing, only Bhavi.

Maybe Bhavi and Dhavi Sule are close relatives of someone I know closely. Maybe. Maybe not. Not all Maharashtrians and Kannadigas know each other. But at the borders they might just do.

Till then, whenever you cross the Maharashtra border , wait for Sulebhavi and Suledhavi and then take a deep breath.

DVD Coach

Ive just returned from Pune, where Id gone to see someone. I went by a private bus operator ( Neeta Volvo) which is immensly popular on the Bombay-Pune route. The journey takes more than four hours, of which 1.5 hrs are spent in getting out of Bombay. Its only after Panvel when you hit the expressway that you are truly on your way. These Volvo buses move at a speed of over 110 km/h on the expressway, which is something that was unheard of earlier. At least some quality infrastructure in place. And the steep banking of the expressway on turning, indicates the speeds that vehicles go on this route. Anyway for 250 bucks its quite allright. Luckily the bus pases right in front of the place Im supposed to go in Pune, so it was good. I returned by Konduskar, another private bus operator running Volvo buses on this route. Neeta Volvo runs 30 services each way, all day. I just hope that the quality of travel and the maintenance of the buses remains good, else the business is likely to crumble.

All these buses show some current Bollywood flick on the way. Earlier this used to be a novelty - to see a film on the buses' VCR and so many transporters had christened their buses as "Video Coaches". Transporters have moved along with technology and now many have DVD players for the films. And correspondingly have re-christened their services as "DVD Coach" etc.

If one doesnt particularly like Bollywood films (like me) then the film playing on the bus can be a bit of a pain, but then in a 3-4 hr. journey its tolerable.

Also lucliky they didnt stop for too long at the malls and food courts when they have a halt to fill diesel. Maybe they have a tie up on the percentages with the malls/foodcourts on the purchases by our compulsive-spending public. So they are likely to have a long halt at these places. After all its the bucks that are pouring in.

Happy Dassera

Here are some greetings for those who like to be greeted. The festival is also known as Vijayadashmi (victory on the tenth day) It also marks the end of the "exploits" of young boys during a nine-day Navratri (nine nights) festival - in which they sweat for hours with the girls. They have a licence to do so during this time and most make the most of it.

Happy Dassera
Happy Dasara
Happy Dushera
Happy Dasera

This is a festival where according to some story, a guy called Ravan was killed by another guy called Ram and his brother Laxman. They did so after hunting out old Ravan who had taken Rams wife away or something. So when old Ravan was killed, they celebrated this festival. Ravan was supposed to be bad and Ram was supposed to be good. So I guess that just leaves Laxman as the frustrated one.

This reflects reality .... we have three types of people in real life ..

The Good
The bad
The Frustrated (Frustoos)

Do see the Ravan's go up in flames. People do get a kick seeing this one. As if your sworn enemy is in there.

Ahmed Ali and Rizwan

Last week on my way back I met these two giants on the train in the Udyan WGACCW coach. Their built, language and the way they conducted themselves was intimidating (to put it mildly). Ahmed Ali is a kind of guy you wont want to mess with even if you yourself are the leader of some gang or something. And his companion (fondly called Chote, meaning small) was equally ferocious. Later as the journey progressed it turned out that they were pretty polished and that their aggresive exterior was not a reflection of their way of life.

Anyway ill be posting lots more on these two.

To be completed.

Idlis of Arsekere

Arsekere is a railway station when you go from Bombay to Karnataka. From there two lines branch out - one to Bangalore and one towards Hassan and thereafter towards Mysore. Now, last week, I was travelling in this 2AC coach and with me was this jerk (who I had tolerated all this while right from Bombay). He had kept harping about how delicious and great the idlis were at Arsekere station. No wonder, that as soon as the train halted at Arsekere, Jerk rushed out to get his idlis. He yelled out to me to come along too. Since I had nothing better to do, I too went. Jerk got himself two plates (bowls made out of folded leaves) of idlis, i.e. 8 in all. With chutney and all. I got a plate for myself too. I agree they were indeed good. Then when he had cleaned his plate, he started telling me that this time the idli's were not that "hot" and the chutney could have been better. Anyway by looking at the way people were rushing upto the stall to get their idlis, I could tell that it was something to look forward too. In any case old Jerk at least introduced me to the "Idlis of Arsekere" and so next time if I happen to pass the place, Ill get myself a plate without fail. (It also depends on where your coach lands up on the station - with trains having more than 15 coaches these days, you can be far off from this stall. And with a stoppage time of just under 5 mins. it can be touch and go.)

So next time if you too happen to pass by Arsekere, look out for the idlis, and have a plate. they have medu-wadas too, though.

(4 idlis for Rs. 10, or 2 idlis and 2 medu-wadas for the same price)

WAG and WDM

The rest of the week will be spent near WAG's and WDM's. So till next week I'd suggest that you re-read the WGFA posts and recuperate your thoughts (from my earlier posts, obviously) , to be ready for the forthcoming onslaught of posts and pictures.

Station naming controversy

(This post may be offensive to some sections of society)

One of the two rivers is a staunch "localite". He has been harping on the fact that railway stations in Maharashtra write the name of the station in Marathi, below the Hindi (national language) text. This was proved to be outright incorrect, since the Indian Railways has the policy of wrting the name of the station (on top of the board) in the local language and the Hindi and English texts follow beneath. Now the river was not able to understand this. He was insisting that the non-Maharashtrain influence has led to the railways here to write the names in Hindi on top, and in Marathi below. Anyway even after sufficient pictorial proof of station boards in Maharashtra, the river was not ready to chew his words. All across the country the same rule is followed by the railways - the name of the station in the local language script on top, followed by the name in the Devanagri and English scripts. (If anyone can provide proof of this rule being violated anywhere in Maharashtra, please do so).

Looks like the self styled locals are begining to feel the heat. With our country becoming more and more cosmopolitian by the day, you see a eclectic mixture of communities residing next to each other. And this cant be helped. Locals feel they are getting upsurped, and maybe rightly so. There was a post on prominent Maharashtrians, and the list was not long at all. That itself is sufficient proof. The bottom line is do something constructive that will outlast time - the locals should get that ingrained in their minds. Dont just sit and worship false heroes and politicians by looking upto them whenever you are out in the cold.

After all the real true authentic original Bombay insiders are the ones (like meeeee !!!!!!) born on the BOMBAY island (of the seven original Islands of Bombay). People from anyplace else, be it Salsette, Trombay dont qualify.

(The word "locals" in this post is to be read as "self-styled locals")

He He Heh Heh Ho Ho.

Solar eclipse

Just got a glimpse of the solar eclipse from our terrace. It had been cloudy and raining all day so we had just given up hope of seeing it. But around 4.30 pm or so when we went up, we found that the clouds had cleared up. We quickly ripped apart a floppy and saw the eclipse - for less than a second. This floppy method too is not recommended, though. It was rather grand. There was a website showing the progress of the eclipse, but I guess it was animated. Looking at the real thing, is something, which should not be missed.

The atmosphere of Bombay is so polluted, that half the intensity of the sun gets absorbed by the tons of dust and smog floating above us at all times. Helps to keep eyes safe.

The planetarium boys had set up elaborate viewing equipment. It would have been exciting to go there, but then its too far from our office. And moreover, it had been cloudy all day and it was just our luck that the clouds blew away during the eclipse.

This was not a total solar eclipse this time. The next total solar eclipse over Bombay is on 22 July 2009. If not, blame Rediff, because thats where I got that information.

Walker and his welding goggles

This happened many years back on the terrace of our building. The occasion was a solar eclipse that could be seen from Bombay. It was afternoon and some of us had assembled up there to have a look. Now for viewing an eclipse (looking at the sun) you need these extremely darkened filters. We carried along some discs ripped out from the old 1.4' floppies so that we could look through them. Later on we figured out that it was not sufficiently dark and might be dangerous to view the eclipse through them. Anyway we were still around on the terrace when Walker trooped in.

Walker is(was) an old employee of our company and held many senior positions, though not so senior. He came up with a tough leather pouch and produced a pair of dark welding goggles. He had a look at the eclipse through them and later on we queued up to do the same. (In Bombay to do anything you have to queue up). Once we all had our fill of looking at the ec - old Walker explained the story behind the goggles. It belonged to his father who used to work at L&T (an engineering company in Bombay) and the goggles were presented to him on the day of his retirement by his colleauges. (Probably old Walker Sr. might have been doing true hard core engineering work - welding and all). It was indeed a pleasant story. So that's the story of Walker and his welding goggles.

I remember this, since we are told that on the coming Monday is another chance to have a look at the solar eclipse from Bombay. It will be around the same time as the one I've just written about. We would as usual go up to the same terrace, and probably wait for old Walker to show up with his contraption. (Walker retired many years ago).

Many people are suspicious of viewing an eclipse - its a bad omen etc. The people who conjured up this belief must have been truly great, for if millions believe in what you say, what more can one want.